The Northern Downpour Sends Its Love
by xxfanpirexx
Summary: Jasper is gone, Emmett is with him, Rosalie is pregnant, Alice is spiteful, Edward is gay, Charley's been kicked out, Peter's a jerk, and Bella's alone. Who will be left standing when the smoke has cleared? Will the group ever be back together?
1. Tripping Eyes

**Bella's Point of View**

Sharing a room with Charley wasn't actually as bad as one might think. Sure, she was my boyfriend's mother, and my brother had just kicked her out, and sent her to live with her ex-husband, but hey, these things happen. Charlotte was quickly becoming my best friend. It was actually easier than having a friend my own age, because she could actually give me sound advice on whether any of my crazy schemes would work.

She also had this funky fashion sense. She ended up just putting her clothes in my closet, and we would wear whatever we wanted, seeing as our styles were similar.

Surprisingly, Charlie was actually okay with having a new housemate.

Charley ended up just sharing a bed with me. I mean, we're both females, I have a king sized bed, and it was the only one in the house besides Charlie's, and I sure as heck wasn't going to push his limits by ordering that they share a bed. And it would be awkward. What if, somehow, they fell in love and decided to get married? I'd be dating my stepbrother. Awkward turtle.

We were lying in bed one night, and neither of us could get to sleep.

"Bella?" came her voice, soft and kind.

"Yeah, Charley?"

"Why do you love my son?"

I sat up slightly, and I felt her arm slide around mine and pull me back down.

"I'm not going crazy mother on you; I just want to know, friend to friend."

I took a moment to think.

"Jasper Hale Whitlock is one of the most sincere, kind, honest, loving, sweet people I know. Anything he does, he does for a reason. I really want to stay in his life for a long time."

I could feel her wrap her arms around me, something that was no longer awkward, we hugged each other quite frequently now.

"Bella. My son came to me a few weeks ago and asked me if I liked you. I told him, 'Of course I do. She is a beautiful, amazing young woman. Why?' And you know why he asked me? He asked me how I would feel if someday he decided to marry you. And you know what I said to him? 'I would love to have Bella as a daughter.'"

I hugged her closer and squeezed her tight.

I could feel myself start to cry, and her hand came up to my face and wiped the tears away. My mother had never comforted me; she had never dried my tears, or anything of the sort. I think of Charlotte now as a mother, and also as a friend. She means everything to me, and I don't know what I would do if my brother hadn't met and married her. She was a very good friend, but she also knew when to be a type of comforting presence.

She rubbed my back and laughed lightly. I thought that would make you happy, not make you cry."

I laughed with her. "Happy tears."

"Bella, I think that tomorrow we need to go shopping. What do you say?"

"Sure. I need to get some new school clothes anyway, remember, I'm starting in Seattle?"

"Have you ever thought about taking online classes?"

I could feel my eyes widen. "They have those for high school?"

"Sure! You could stay at home, avoid the tiresome commute to Seattle, and you wouldn't have to ride the ferry. What do you say?"

"I think that'd be great! Then, I can spend even more time with you before you leave. I really wish that Peter hadn't kicked you out, but he's a jerk like that."

Charley laughed, her white blonde bangs slipping out of her bobby pin.

"Bella, I'm glad that your brother kicked me out, because I got the chance to live with you for a while. It's been great. Really. This has been one of the best times of my life, and I am very glad that you are now my friend. Honestly, Bella, I think that you are my best friend."

I smiled, and hugged her one more time. She ran her hands through my hair, and smiled back.

"Good night, Bella."

"'Night, Charley."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

The next morning, I awoke to see a ridiculously peppy Charley pouncing up and now on the bed.

"What are you _doing?_"

"Wakeupwakeupwakeup! We're going shopping!"

"What the crap? It's 9:30! The malls aren't even open yet!"

"Well, duh! But they will soon, and in the time it takes us to get there, they will be!"

"Just wondering…"

"Yes?"

"A few questions. One, how old _are_ you? Two, how much coffee have you _had_?"

She giggled and collapsed on the bed beside me. "Well, missy. One, I'm 39. Secondly, none."

I raised my left eyebrow at her. "Okay… I had a red bull and I also had a vault. So get up!"

I groaned, and snuggled back into my comforter. I imagined Jasper and I on a beach, lying in the sand, holding hands. I could feel myself starting to fall back to sleep, when all of a sudden my blankets and sheets were snatched away.

"Come get 'em, slow poke!"

Charlotte took off across the room, the bedding flying after her. She jumped down the hatch, not even bothering to climb down the stairs. I jumped after her, and chased her down the stairs. When she was at the foot, and I was about two thirds of the way down, I jumped, landing on the plush down comforter. My weight knocked the things out of her arms, and she was forced to let go.

"Got 'em." I mumbled somewhat sleepily, somewhat exhausted.

"Fine. Go back to sleep."

She walked off into the kitchen, and I fell back asleep.

When I awoke, I was laying in the backseat of her SUV.

"Where am I?"

"On the way to Seattle."

"How did you get me into the car?"

She smiled, and looked at me in the rearview mirror.

"Well, your dad _helped_."

I laughed, and sat up correctly and buckled in, then wrapping the blankets back around myself. Her car wasn't very warm. She laughed, and turned on the seat warmers. I could feel a gradual heat spreading through my buttocks. Mmmmm… toasty. She chuckled, and focused her attention back on the road. I looked down on my outfit and frowned.

I was still in my pajamas, a gray thermal jumper, and a loose pair of Pink cotton sweats.

"Uhm… Charley? Have you _seen_ what I'm wearing? Not exactly mall appropriate."

She grinned, and tossed me a duffel bag. I unzipped it and found a pair of red, plaid skinny jeans, a black tank top, and a white shirt with pictures of shutter shades on them.

"Thanks, Charley."

"Sure."

I rolled the windows up in the car, and changed under my blanket. I looked out of the window, and saw that we were in the parking lot of the mall.

We hopped out of the car, and walked into the mall.

"So, Bella. Where to first?"

"I'm not sure. How about… Macy's? I saw a beautiful maxi skirt there the other day."

"Ooo. You can never have too many skirts."

We went to various stores, buying quite a bit of clothing, but keeping our spending in control. Neither of us had much extra money to spend.

Later that night, we both fell into bed, exhausted.

**Jasper's Point of View**

I'd been in that stupid, cramped van for hours. When I finally got out, I was greeted by a sign.

_Saint Elks Rehabilitation Center_

Of course it had a name like Saint Elks. Not a name like…say… _You'll Never Make It Out With Your Sanity Intact, So Please Check It At The Door, Rehabilitation Center._

**A/N**

**One, Charley. It's pronounced Shar-Lee, one of my friends doubts me. But seriously, have you ever met a girl named Char-Lot? No? Didn't think so.**

**Secondly, something you need to know. Siobhan. I'm pretty sure it's pronounced Shuh-VAHN. Not See-Oh-Bon. Remember that. You meet Siobhan next chapter.**

**I recently celebrated my one year anniversary. Yay me! July 29, I think. **

**Random thought here, that I have to share. I have a new title for Alien vs. Predator. Bug Alien vs. Rastafarian Alien. Good, huh? **

**Review! Jasper'll ask Charley if he can marry you!**


	2. She Said She Can't Believe

**A/N Hey guys! One reader has asked me to include a little bit about Charley, which I will. I thought of something after reading a story. Give me your best, random quotes or lines, and I will pick the best ones and put them in the story. **

**Jasper's Point of View**

The people who'd been in the van with me, led me into the building. They took me to a cafeteria, where a large group of teenagers were sitting around, eating, and talking to their friends. I stood off to the side for a while, trying to get up some confidence. I took a deep breath, and walked toward the line. A tall girl with deep red hair walked up to me and fell in step with me.

"Hello, new meat."

I glanced at her, and fell back a little, letting her take the lead. "Hi."

She smiled at me, and held out a slender hand, "I'm Siobhan. You are?"

"Hi, Siobhan. I'm Jasper." I grasped her hand, and shook it. "How'd you know I was new?"

She looked down, and then looked back into my eyes. "You're wearing normal clothes, and it's not the weekend."

I looked back around, and noticed that everyone was, in fact, wearing gray, or blue tee shirts, and black sweatpants. I, on the other hand, was wearing jeans, and a long sleeved tee.

"Yeah. They'll have some of their clothes waiting in your room. Do you know what room number?"

"Nah. They said to head down to the office area after I eat."

She nodded at me, and led me toward a table, where 5 people were sitting. Siobhan pointed at a tall guy, with long, sandy brown hair tied back into a ponytail.

"Jasper, this is Garrett. He's in here because he was a heroin addict. He's been here a while, he'll probably be able to leave soon.

"That," she pointed at a pretty blonde, "is Kate. She did… meth, I think? Not sure. She's in _love_ with Garrett, but I don't think he notices her as anything but a friend. Poor girl."

Next, she gestured to a feminine looking guy, with reddish blonde, curly hair. "That, is Tony. She or, he, rather, was born a female, but feels, like, how can I put this? A boy in a girl's body. Carmen, over there," she looked pointedly at the last female at the table. She was black-haired with an olive tone, "is his girlfriend. She was bulimic, and then, when the acid and stuff started ruining her teeth, she became anorexic. She was brought here after she passed out at school." I noticed one other figure hunched over across the table. He struck me a familiar… "And that, over there, is,"

"Emmett!"

The head, covered in brown curls shot up.

"Jaz! What'd you do to get in here?"

I rolled my eyes at my friend, "Overdosed on painkillers."

He chuckled, and Siobhan elbowed me. "I take it you two know each other."

"Yeah," he said, "this spaz has been my best friend for years!"

"Come on," said Siobhan. "I'll take you to the office so you can get your room number and stuff."

She grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the table, dragging me toward the door. I sent a frantic glance to Emmett who chuckled, and went back to eating.

Before I knew it, she'd dragged me to the office, gotten a manila folder with my name on it (misspelled, of course. Gaspar Hitluck), and dragged me to the door areas.

"Here. Take this folder. Inside, there will be a paper with your room number on it. The rooms are through that door over there. I have to go to an appointment. Byes."

She tossed the folder to me, then ran off toward another hallway. I pulled out the contents of the folder, flipping through the pages until I found the one with my room number on it.

_1843_

I walked over to the door, and saw that there was a keypad on the door, that needed a code to unlock the door. I looked back at the paper, and skimmed through, until I found the code.

_16620_

I opened the door, and looked around. It was actually pretty nice. There was a pretty large window, although it had bars on it, and from the looks of things, shatterproof glass. There were two beds, two dressers, two desks, a door which may have been a closet and another door off to the side, which I assumed was a bathroom. Both beds were made, but one of them looked as though it had recently been laid on. There were huge stacks of books on one of the desks, and one of the dressers had a lot of things on top of it. The other half of the room was very clean, and meticulous. There was nothing there to indicate that someone lived there. My half of the room.

I walked over to my dresser and pulled it open. There were ten t-shirts, five blue, five gray. There were also two black hoodies, ten pairs of black sweatpants, 10 pairs of boxers, and 5 pairs of pajama pants. I quickly stripped out of my clothes and changed into a blue t-shirt and a pair of the sweatpants. I folded my long-sleeved tee and jeans and put them in a separate drawer. I glanced over toward my bed, noticing that there was nothing on the bed. At all. I sat down at my desk to see if there was anything inside the multiple drawers.

I found a stack of papers, a couple of pens, some paints, some pastels, pencils, colored pencils… someone had clued someone else into the fact that I loved drawing, and painting. Yay. At least I won't die of boredom. I grabbed a piece of charcoal and a piece of paper, and began to sketch a picture of Bella. It didn't look right. I didn't get her eyes right. Her eyes were always sparkling like she was up to no good.

I guess it was the charcoal. I pulled out a box of colored pencils, and tried again. This time, it was her smile. It wasn't shaped the right way. I went to crumple it up again when I heard a voice from behind me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What on Earth are you _doing_? You're seriously going to rip that up?"

I turned around, and Siobhan was sitting on my bed, looking over my shoulder at the drawing.

"That's great! Rip that up and I will worry about your mental health!"

I rolled my eyes, and crushed it in my fist.

"It doesn't do justice to the subject."

She gently pulled the paper out of my fist, and uncrinkled it.

"She's… beautiful. Who is she? If you don't mind me asking."

I sighed, and looked back in the drawer.

"She's my girlfriend. Bella Swan. I love her more than anyone else in the world."

I grabbed a box of 108 crayons, and got to work on my third try.

"Do you have a picture of her?"

I pointed to the dresser. "In the back pocket of my jeans, they're in the top drawer."

She opened the drawer and pulled out my wallet. Inside, I had a picture of Bella and I that we'd taken on the beach one day.

"Oh my God! She's freaking gorgeous! Tell me more. I need to know more about her. I'm usually really good at reading people, but I can't tell anything, besides the fact that she is one of the most beautiful women I've seen!"

"Well, she's really nice. And funny. She makes me laugh when no one else can. She's really into photography. And when I say really into it, I mean, it's her pride and joy. She took this picture. Timer, before you ask. She's smart, too. And she's so… insightful."

While I had been talking, I'd been sketching her face with the crayons. I'd gotten her done, and began to shade her in.

Siobhan looked over my shoulder, and looked at my drawing.

"Okay, yeah. You were right. The other ones were off. This is… perfect."

I added a bit of depth to the picture, then grabbed a piece of tape and taped it to the wall beside my bed. I sat the picture against the back of my desk.

Siobhan went to one of the doors, which opened into a closet. There were blankets and sheets, along with 3 or 4 pillows. At the bottom, were two hampers, with some of Siobhan's uniforms in them.

"You'll need blankets, sheets, and pillows. C'mere. Pick your poison." She went back over to my desk and looked at my sketches again.

I grabbed navy blue sheets, and a black comforter. I made my bed, while Siobhan moved back to her side of the room, and grabbed a picture from on top of her dresser.

"This is Maggie, my sister, and Liam, my Bella." I took the picture she held out to me. It showed a petite young woman with bouncy red hair, and a tall, somewhat mean looking guy.

"He looks… well… pissed."

Siobhan giggled, and looked back at the photograph.

"Yeah, I suppose so. But Maggie had just said something very mean to him. She's… blunt. She's nowhere near a subtle as I am."

I looked at the girl and raised my eyebrows.

"You? Subtle?"

"Exactly. So if she's even more blunt than me, then think about how blunt she really ahs to be."

I could feel my eyes widening.

"By god. I'd hate to be on her bad side."

Siobhan chuckled, and sat the picture back on top of the dresser. I went over to the closet and grabbed two pillows. I put them on the bed, and walked into the bathroom, and took a hot shower. I could feel the scalding water relaxing away any tightness in my muscles. I changed into a pair of boxers and sleep pants, forgoing the shirt, and walked back into the room, toweling my hair. I could hear a low whistle from Siobhan's bed. I glanced over, and she was laying on her stomach reading a magazine.

"Wow… you are a stud. You have a really nice body. Has anyone ever told you that?"

I laughed, and ran a brush through my hair.

"Yeah, I think I've heard that before. Say, Siobhan, I have a question."

"Hit me."

"Co-ed rooms?"

She chuckled, and tied her hair back. "Yeah. I was wondering when you would ask about that. It's like… to promote social interaction or some B.S., but it's not like we could do anything if we felt like it."

She pointed up above the door. "Security cameras. Try anything, and they'll be here in minutes. A friend of mine tried. She got put into, like, a solitary confinement kind of room. No bathroom, no desk. Just a bed, and a dresser."

I walked back over to my side, and curled up under the covers. Siobhan grabbed a flashlight, and her book.

"I'm an insomniac. I'll be reading under the bed so that my light doesn't distract you. 'Night, Jasper."

She flipped out the light, and slid under the bed.

"Night, Siobhan."

'_Night, Bella. _

**A/N I am a review whore, hit me up. I can hold the next chapter hostage!**

**Review, Jasper will sketch you. **


	3. Author's Note

Hello, people. I have something for you to know.

I've been getting a lot of crap lately about how crackficish and dramatic CYHAWFM was.

I wanted to get all of the dramatic crap over with, so that TNDSIL can be a bit better. Please, so stop leaving reviews saying how it started off good, and then went downhill. It was either one really dramatic one, and then one that wraps up loose ends and is more touching and sweet most of the time, or two that were dramatic. I asked quite a few people, and ran my plot by a few more, and trust me, things will get better. A lot.

April


	4. Fabled Foreign Tongues

**Bella's Point Of View**

I was sitting outside of an ice cream shop with Charley, and we were sharing a chocolate fudge sundae. It was rare weather, and the two of us were basking in the sunlight.

"Charley?"

"Hmmm?" She continued to eat the ice cream.

"Can you tell me about yourself? Like, your story. Jasper's told me a little, but it's really not much."

The spoon froze halfway to her mouth. She sighed, and set it back down into the bowl.

"Yeah. You're right. Um, well. When I was younger, my family was well off. We had plenty of money; I'm not even sure where it came from. I went to private school all of my life, so I grew up with my head drilled full of rules. My parents, my teachers, _my friends_, everyone was stuck up. After high school, I decided to spend a year bumming around Europe."

I raised my left eyebrow at her, and continued to eat.

"Yeah, I know, right? But when I was in Italy, I met Eleazar, a half Italian, half Spanish hottie. He had a summer home in Europe, which was where he was staying, but he lived in America. One thing led to another, I guess, and about a year later I was in a white gown. Another year, and your boyfriend was born."

I nodded at her, and she grinned.

"I really miss him, Bella."

"I do too, Charlotte."

"I think you might miss him more than I do, and I feel horrible for that. I mean, I didn't even know he could draw. Did you?"

I nodded, and tossed our empty dish into a trashcan.

"Yeah, he mentioned it, and he's drawn me little doodles before, but I haven't seen anything really serious that he's done."

"When I found him in his bathroom, there were drawings of you all over the bed. At first, I thought they were photo shopped to something, with a special filter, but no. And I felt… shocked. I mean, I don't really know anything about my son. I'm such a bad person."

I grasped her hands on the tabletop, and looked into her eyes.

"You are not. You might not be the best mother, but you were young when Jasper was born. You are a terrific person, Charley."

She smiled slightly, and pulled a 10 dollar bill from her pocket.

"Come on, let's go rent a movie."

-0-0

**Jasper's Point of View**

I didn't sleep well. I would wake up every few hours, and every time I did, Siobhan's light was still shining from under the bed. I finally fell into a somewhat deeper sleep. I woke up at 7:15, according to the clock on my bedside table. I sat up, and there was a girl with burgundy hair sitting on the floor with a magazine.

"Bella?"

The girl looked up, and I saw that it was Siobhan.

"Sorry, Lover Boy. No dice. It's just me."

I looked at her again. "You dyed your hair?"

"Oh yeah. We get visitors every Friday, and my sister usually brings me hair dye. When I was younger, my hair was really… weird, I guess you could say, and it took forever to grow. But then I started cutting a little off every month, and what they say is true. The more you cut your hair, the faster it grows. I cut it about once a month now. I dye it all the time too. I don't like looking the same all the time. So, about once a week, I use new dye."

I looked at her, and thought back to something my mother had said.

"Isn't that stuff horrible for your hair?"

She shrugged. "Not the temporary kind. And I was blessed to have blonde hair, so every color shows up."

I looked at her and rolled my eyes. There was a knock on the door.

"Jasper? I'm Doctor Stanley, please meet me in my office at 1:00."

Great. My second day and they already want me to see a shrink.

**Edward's Point of View**

I grabbed my car keys off of my table and jumped in my Volvo. I was headed to my boyfriend, Ben's house. As I drove, I thought about what had happened the past few months. It was all my fault. If I hadn't tried to break Bella and Jasper up, Bella, Alice, and Rose would still be friends, Jasper would still be here, and Emmett might not've had a heart attack on Jasper's kitchen floor.

I really regretted what I'd done. I used to have some stupid plan to split them up. It was even stupider than the one that almost worked. What was it? Right… I would get Bella to fall in love with me, and then get Jasper to see her coming onto me. As I said, stupid. I used to really like her. But then I met Ben, and realized that with him was where my heart really belonged, not with Bella, or even Jasper.

I jumped out of my car, and ran up to Ben's door, trying to get out of the rain. I knocked three times, and stood in the cold, waiting impatiently for him to get to the door. As soon as he opened it, I strode in, and grabbed a fistful of his hair pulling his lips to mine. Ben tasted like… spearmint and honey.

_Delicious._

**Alice's Point of View**

I really felt bad now. I'd gone over to Bella's house to apologize, and try to get things back together, but I'd gone over while I was PMSing. Bad idea.

So, I tried again.

I knocked on the door, and Bella opened it.

As soon as she saw it was me, she started to close it again. I stuck my foot in the door, not even caring that my Christian Louboutin's were getting scratched.

"Bella. I'm sorry."

She just stood there and stared at me.

"I over reacted. Big time. And… I feel horrible. I want my best friend back."

She looked at me.

"Maybe someday."

**A/N Anyone who reviews this chapter gets an outtake that will explain something that happens later in the story. The outtake is from sometime in CYHAWFM, and will eventually be posted of my profile, but when the chapter it relates to shows up. At the end of this story. All anon reviewers can email me. Email is on profile. **

**By the way, I really didn't feel like writing this, but It'd been ages since my last update.  
**


	5. Easy Morning

**Yeah. I'm back. Please, can you guys check out my story Button Boy? Anyone who does gets… a little tidbit from Edward's, Rosalie's, Emmett's, Jasper's, Bella's, Alice's, Charley's, Peter's, or Siobhan's viewpoint. You get to pick! Just tell me in your review on Button Boy. Really, it'd mean a lot to me. But that doesn't mean I don't want you to review this one, too.**

**Charlotte's Point Of View**

As much as I loved sharing a living space with Bella, I knew that the time would come very soon for me to leave and go back to living in Texas. I loved Bella, I really did, but it was a little awkward sharing a bed and everything with my son's girlfriend, even though through her generosity and kindness, she had quickly become my best friend. She always looked out for me, making sure that any needs of mine were well met. But she and Charlie had been so gracious to me for so long… It didn't feel right anymore. He was a single man providing for himself and his daughter, and after Peter had kicked me out, I didn't have much money, so he was providing for me too, and I was very grateful for it.

I leaned over to Bella's bedside table where she had an old rotary phone. Gosh, I hadn't used one of these since I was a kid staying with my grandparents during the summer. I dialed the phone number that I had memorized years ago.

"Hello, Giordano residence. This is Anne Marie."

I recognized the lovely old housekeeper from when I still lived there.

"Anne Marie! It's Charlotte! How have you been, dear?"

"Charlotte? So good to hear your voice. I'll page you through to Eleazar."

A few moments later I heard my ex-husband's voice.

"Eleazar Giordano."

"Eleazar?"

"Charlotte? Why are you calling?"

I sighed and thought about how to word this.

"Leaz… Peter and I broke up. And I… really miss you. I do. I was wondering if I could come back and stay with you for a while."

"Mio Amore… of course. I wouldn't have it any other way. I would love it. When would you be arriving?"

"As soon as I can get enough money to come out."

I could hear him typing on his computer.

"I'll wire you out some money. I trust that my son will be coming with you?"

I then realized that no one had alerted him to Jasper's… ehm... Condition.

"No. He will not. He is currently in a rehabilitation center in Seattle. He was abusing a prescription drug he had to take after he broke his leg."

"Alright, Amore. He'll have to come later I suppose. So you'll be coming alone?"

I crinkled my nose and rearranged myself on the bed I shared with Bella.

"Actually, there's a girl that I've become very close to. Jasper's girlfriend. She's been taking high school online, so she could continue to do that, and then maybe she could go and take photography somewhere afterward, because that's her calling. She's quite marvelous at it, as well. I was hoping that she could come as well. She's a very polite and well mannered girl, and the house is so large that its not like she's be in the way all of the time."

"That's fine. I'm sure that if you and Jasper love her so much then I will as well. I just finished wiring the money to your bank account. I'll see you soon, Mio Amore."

"Bye, Leaz."

"Good bye."

**Bella's Point of View**

I slammed to door to my car. Every time I left the house, there were the whispers, the stares, and the pointing. It was starting to be too much. Of course, everyone knew about what had happened with Jasper. Naturally, in a town this small, it was all they'd be talking about for months. But I couldn't even go to the grocery store now. Holy crow!

I ran back into the house, and out of the rain. I opened the door and ran pulled off my boots, dropping the groceries on the kitchen counter. Charley and Charlie were sitting at the table each with a cup of coffee.

Charley patted the chair next to her and slid a cup towards me.

"Come sit, Bella. Your father and I have something we need to tell you."

I raised my eyebrows and widened my eyes.

"You two aren't in love, are you?"

They laughing, and Charlie shook his head.

"It's nothing like that. Don't worry. Sit down."

I took the seat and took a long drink from the coffee before turning to them.

"Bella," Charley began, "as you know, I'll be moving back to Texas soon. Well, last night I called Eleazar again, and he's sent me some money to go back."

I could feel myself starting to tear up. I loved Charlotte. She was more of a mother to me than mine ever was. She was also my best friend. I don't know what I'll do with her gone.

"Well… I'll miss you."

She smiled at me and then took another sip of her coffee.

"Actually, and I talked this over with your father, I want you to come with me. You can finish your online schooling, and then you can go to a photography school in Dallas. I'm not sure if I could live without you now."

I smiled at her, and then looked at my dad.

"Bella, while I'm not the best cook, I'll admit, I will survive if you go. Don't worry about me. Go. You can go to school somewhere you wouldn't be able to living here. I think this is better for you than staying here in Forks."

I got up and hugged him. He may not want to hear me say this, but it was a very strong and brave thing of him to let me leave. I knew, that even though he was a generally quiet man, he loved me.

"Thank you so much, dad. I… I really appreciate it."

He smiled and rubbed my back.

"Now, go start packing your stuff between the two of you ladies, there'll be too many clothes for me to send to Texas later."

I smiled, and hugged him again, before going up the stairs with Charlotte. Going up into my room, I saw a stack of collapsed packing boxes leaning against the wall.

"Bella, I know what kind of coulture you're going to be immersed in is a bit different than what you're used to, but it'll be okay. Now, before we start packing anything. There's a few things we need to send ahead, we'll need them before the moving van'll get there."

I nodded, and grabbing a roll of packing tape, began putting some of the boxes together. She pulled a notepad from the bedside table, and smoothly slid a pencil from her hair.

"Let's see… you'll need to put in about a week's worth of jeans, half a week's worth of skirts, a few sundresses, and a few evening dresses. As well as a variety of shoes. Sneakers, stilettos, sandals, the whole nine yards. Underwear and socks, of course, and any jewelry you might want to wear."

She gestured to a box in the corner that she had labeled with a Sharpie as 'ESSENTIALS'.

"We'll be leaving on Tuesday, can you think of any of your cosmetics you might need before then?"

I shook my head.

"Not really. I mean, that's 6 days, I won't really be doing anything besides packing and I won't need my makeup. I can just use up the last of my shampoo, there's not much left. I'll need my acne stuff though. But all of my make up and hair stuff can go. I'll just deal with the wavy hair and let it air dry, so we can pack my blow dryer and flat iron away. But yeah. That's it."

She nodded and tied her hair back with one of the rubber bands on the dresser. "I'm going to go pack away the stuff in the bathroom, then. Pick the clothes for your essentials box for me to put out for the mailman; you've got about an hour before he'll be here."

As I was packing my clothes I started thinking about Jasper. What was I going to do, being in Texas with him here? But we'll find some way to manage. I'll make sure of it.

I finished packing my essentials, and copied the shipping information from Charley's onto mine.

I set them out side right as the mailman walked up.

"Good thing I had my van today, huh Bella?"

I chuckled and nodded at him, before going back inside to help Charlotte pack the rest of the clothes. After setting out a pair of pajamas for each of us, and clothes for each day, I started to pack the other things away. Charley came back in from the bathroom and put the two boxes of our combined toiletries in the corner. She came into the closet and started to help me.

"Go pack your cameras and books and stuff. I'll finish in here."

I started to go back into the main room, but she called me back.

"Bella, can you sit for a sec?"

I sat on the bench in the middle of the closet, and waited for Charlotte to come back from the corner of the room.

She handed me a box and sat down next to me.

"Open it."

I opened the box to see that it was filled with scrap booking stuff.

"Seeing as we'll be leaving Jasper behind here, and unfortunately, you're closer to him than I am, I thought you'd give him a scrapbook filled with pictures of the two of you to have when we see him on Friday."

I smiled and hugged her. "It's perfect. Thank you. Wait… we're going to see him on Friday?"

She smiled back. "Yeah. Its visitor's day. Now, go pack up your stuff, and while your doing so, choose the pictures to put in there."

We spent the rest of the night packing, and I chose a ton of pictures of the two of us, notes we'd passed in school that I'd kept, ticket stubs, and a takeout menu from La Bella Italia.

I couldn't wait for Friday.

But at the same time, I was dreading telling him that I was leaving.

But it'd be alright.

I hoped.

Charlotte and I pulled on our pajamas and threw our clothes into the hamper, throwing ourselves down onto the bed at the same time. We giggled, and hugged each other. She fell asleep quickly, leaving me awake. I rolled over and looked around my mostly empty room.

I can't say I would miss it all that much.

But I would miss the memories.

Suddenly, I was in the room, but about a half year previously. I was laying on the bed, trying to finish reading a book for an essay I had to right. Jasper had been running his hands though my hair and across my back.

"Knock it off. It's a bit hard to read Anna Karenina with you doing this."

He chuckled and pressed his face into the side of my neck.

"That's kind of my intent. Let's go out. You need to stop studying and have some fun."

"But…"

"I love it that you're industrious, but let's go."

"Fine."

"Yay. I love you."

I could feel my eyes widen.

"What?"

"Yeah. Bella, I love you. So much."

I kissed him and sat up off the bed.

"I love you too. Now let's go."

I blinked back the memory of the first time he said those three words.

_It had to be okay._


	6. Tralalaa

Hey guys. Sorry I've been AWOL. Uhm… I leave for Havana, Florida on the 16th, so I'll be writing through my Christmas break. My goal is to get a chapter up and out every other day that I'm gone, but we'll see. I would really like it if I could get 100 reviews on this story before I leave. So, really, please, go review any chapters you missed.

And I'd also like if you could go review my newer story, Button Boy. 5 reviews is making me sad. I want…. 30 reviews, or I hold the next chapter of this story for hostage.

I love you guys, and I hope you have a great rest of your week!


	7. Flooded Lungs

**Jasper's Point of View**

Finally, the day had come. The day where I could see my mom. I did not know if she would be bringing Bella, but I desperately hoped. I had not seen my girlfriend in what felt like months, even though it had only been, maybe, two weeks. I was really starting to miss her.

To prepare us to see our family, they had us all set out like in one of those prison movies. Everyone was seated at a table in the cafeteria, and we all waited for someone to come for us. A few had books, some had notepads, and others appeared to be napping lightly as they waited for anyone to come to their table.

I was seriously considering getting up and leaving, when a funny sight caught my eye. A small girl with a large box walked into the room, slightly stumbling, and made her way across the tiles. However, she stopped and sat at Siobhan's table. She put the box down, and I could see her curly red hair. So that was Maggie, the harsh, tell-it-like-it-is sister.

A few moments later, a tall person with long blondish hair walked in. He was wearing a leather jacket and a pair of skinny jeans with a chain going across his leg. He made his way over to the same table that Siobhan and Maggie sat at. So now, I knew what Liam and Maggie looked like: I could put faces to the names.

I crossed my arms on the table and laid my head down on them. I was starting to get tired, and there was not much to do in here when you could hear the buzz of the chatter of everyone else around you, but you yourself had nothing to do.

I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I know, someone is running their hand through my hair, and stroking the back of my hands. Or, at least, the one I was not drooling all over. I sat up, wiped my hand on my sweats, and wiped my eyes with my hand.

Now that I could finally see, I could see Bella sitting at the table across from me, her hair thicker looking than normal, and falling in large, loose waves down her shoulders. Her glittering brown eyes gazed back into my oddly colored blue ones. She smiled, the perfect cupid's bow of her lips thinning out, and pulling up at the edges.

"Hey babe. Tired?"

She laughed, and grabbed a hold of my hands.

"Not anymore. I was bored, more than anything. Did you come out here alone?"

She nodded her head before answering me. "No. Charley is out in the car, and she's waiting for me to finish talking to you before she comes in. I… I have something I need to tell you."

Dozens of scenarios flashed though my mind. Edward had lied, again, and made her fall in love with him. Something happened to Charlie. Her mom was back. Alice was being meaner. Rosalie had a miscarriage. All sorts of horrible things sped behind my eyes.

As if she could read my mind, she slowing began to shake her head.

"No. Nothing like that. Jasper, your mom is going back to stay with your dad for a while. And she wants me to go with her. There are so many more things I could do in Texas that I couldn't in Forks! I really want to follow through on photography. And I can't do that here."

"Bella, what about doing it here in Seattle?"

"Jasper! I don't want to stay here in Washington. The weather is too dreary for my personal tastes. Now, I really want to stay in contact with you, and I definitely don't want to split up, but I really do want go. You, and Charlie, and the only things keeping me in Forks. Maybe… maybe later, after you've gotten a bit more acclimated, you could come down someplace in Dallas, and then we'd be together."

"It's not that simple, Bella."

"What do you mean? I'm sure that with all of the necessary paperwork-"

"Bella!" I stood, my chair flying back, the metal scraping against the linoleum floors. "I want to stay in Washington!"

Her eyes widened. "But Jasper, I-"

Something in me snapped. All of a sudden, I was seeing red, and I knew I needed to calm down, but I couldn't.

"Face it Bella, everything isn't about you! I'm not leaving just because you want me to. I've built up a nice little life here! I'm not dropping everything at the drop of a hat just for you!"

"Jasper, you need to think about this."

"I need to think? I need… to _think_?"

My arms began to move, but it was like someone other than me was controlling them. I flipped over the table we had been sitting at.

"There's nothing to do here _but_ think, Bella!"

I took a few steps toward her.

"You think you know everything, don't you. In your naïve little world, where _nothing_ goes wrong, where everything happens exactly the way that _Bella_ wants it to. Well, **newsflash. **This is the _real world_. Nothing goes the way you want it to here!"

I took another step toward her, and grabbed her upper arms and shook her.

"I'm staying here. Do you here me? I'm not going back to Texas. Never. Do. You. Hear. Me?"

"Jasper, you're scaring me!"

"I'm _scaring_ you? Good. You deserve to be scared."

I shook her again, harder this time.

Two pairs of arms grabbed each of my shoulders and pulled me backwards. Bella's shirt, which I now recognized as one of mine, slipped from my fingers, and she fell back onto the ground. It was like… all of a sudden I was snapped out of some sort of out of body experience.

"Bella, I…"

I stretched an arm out to her, but she shied away from me and turned, running.

I looked up to see that every single eye in the room was on me. The two guards who had grabbed me pulled me harder, and dragged me from the room. They took me into my room, where they threw me onto the bed, forcefully, before leaving.

I couldn't figure out exactly why I was acting like this. I didn't mean any of what I said, so why had I said it?

**Siobhan's Point of View**

"Here." Maggie pushed a box toward me. I quickly rifled through it, finding my favorite hair dyes.

"Thanks, Mags."

She rolled her eyes, and laughed.

All of a sudden, there was a loud commotion from the other side of the room.

"Bella, I want to stay in Washington!"

The next few minutes played out as if watching them from underwater.

Jasper, the person who I'd befriended in the past few days, had suddenly turned into a violent, angry person.

Two security guards yanked him from the room, Bella stood, grabbing the box she'd brought, and ran from the room.

I turned to Maggie and Liam.

"I'll be back."

"Don't threaten me," I heard Maggie mutter before I was out of earshot.

I followed Bella out into the hallway, where she collapsed against a wall and began sobbing.

I sat down beside her, and tentatively put a hand on her shoulder.

"Who..?"

"I'm Siobhan. Jasper's roommate. What was that about, if you don't mind my asking?"

Bella spent the next half hour talking to me about her relationship with Jasper.

"Siobhan, it was really nice talking to you. I have to go; Charlotte's waiting for me outside. Give this to Jasper," she handed a box to me, "and tell him, I'm sorry, and that I love him."

She stood, her pretty blue maxi skirt swirling around her legs.

I stood as well, and she surprised me by hugging me.

"Bye, Siobhan."

I smiled at her, and hugged her back.

"Bye, Bella."

**Jasper's Point of View**

I don't know how long I laid on my bed in the dark. It could have been minutes, it could have been days. I deserved this. This… emptiness, this darkness, this silence.

Suddenly the door flew open, and Siobhan stalked in. In her arms, she carried two boxes. She placed one on her bed, before carrying the other over to me. She stood there looking down at me for an immeasurable length of time, before unceremoniously dropping the package on my stomach.

I gasped, the air knocked out of me.

"What was _that _for?" I demanded once I could breathe again.

"_That_ was for being a jerk, and making Bella cry."

Well thanks, Siobhan. I definitely didn't feel bad enough already. Appreciate it.

"What the hell was that in there; just asking. Did you go completely insane? What happened to the nice, sweet guy who I met a few weeks ago? You were acting hideously."

"Don't remind me, okay Siobhan? Just… don't. I feel bad enough already."

She chuckled, and sat on the edge of my bed.

"Not possible, Jazz."

I felt a pang go through me.

"Please, don't call me that. Bella's one of the only people who calls me that."

"Fine. Jasper. Well, aren't you going to open your gift from her?"

I used my fingernail to rip through the masking tape holding the box shut.

There were two things in the box: a book and an envelope. I pulled the book out first.

Carefully lifting the front cover, I looked inside.

On the first page was a picture of Bella and me sitting on the beach; the same picture I had on my dresser. I flipped the page, and there was the note that Edward had passed to her at the beginning of the year when I had him ask her if she liked me. I quickly skimmed through the rest of the pages, seeing more pictures of us, and mementos of our relationship.

And now I feel even worse. And I can't exactly fix things, seeing as she'll be moving halfway across the country.

_How am I going to make this right again?_

**Bella's Point of View**

"Bella, are you okay?" Charlotte asked as I slammed the car door shut.

"Yeah. Jasper and I had a fight. Let's just go."

She ran a hand through my hair.

"I'm sorry. What happened?"

"He just… said some things, and then security dragged him off."

She kissed my forehead, and then started the car.

"Well, our flights are today. I was going to see if you wanted to spend the rest of the morning here in Washington, but I think we should just go."

I nodded, and she made a slightly illegal U-Turn and took us in the direction of the airport.

_Good-bye, Washington. _


	8. Fantastic Posing Greed

**Bella's Point of View**

I officially hate flying.

Stupid United Airlines somehow managed to make us so unbelievably late, that it wasn't even funny.

Because United is just so lamesauce, they sent us from Washington, out to Chicago, and then down to Dallas.

Our flight to take us to Chicago was late because of bad weather in San Francisco, so we ended up being 4 hours late for our plane. We got to Chicago way later than originally planned, and ended up missing our flight to Dallas by about 2 hours.

Charlotte and I rented a room at the Hyatt in Chicago, and got there at about 9:30. The main restaurant had already closed, so we went down to the bar, where they almost didn't let me in, and had dinner. She had a burger, and two beers. I had a Chicken Cesar Salad, and hot tea. It cost us $42. And then, with tax and tip, it was $53. For two people.

We ended up at the airport the next morning at 5:15 to catch a 6:00 flight. The shuttle driver told us to go one way, when we really needed to go the other. We had less than 10 minutes to sit in the terminal before the plane began boarding. By the time we were in Dallas, I was exhausted and had no clue how we were going to get to Jasper's dad's house.

We walked outside of the airport into the warm Texas sunshine. There was a limousine parked in front of the doorway. A tall, slim, dark man in a foreign suit was leaning against the side.

"Charlotte, mi amore. Welcome home."

He kissed her hand and opened the car door for her. She folded her tall, lean form in, and reached a hand out to me. I followed in after her, and sat down next to her.

Eleazar sat across from me, and pulled a bottle of water from the cooler beside him. He offered one to both Charley and I, but we both refused.

He put his fingertips together and leaned forward.

"So, Charlotte, who is your friend?"

"This is Bella, Jasper's girlfriend, my best friend."

He held his hand out to me.

"Isabella? Is that short for something?"

"Isabella. Nice to meet you."

I took a hold of his hand to shake it, but his kissed it instead. There's a sort of creepiness about my boyfriend's father kissing me, even if it's only my hand.

He smiled, and leaned back again. Time began to pass as Eleazar and Charley caught up. About 30 minutes after leaving, the car turned off of the main road and began to travel down a longer, flatter road. Off in the distance, I could see a large home, and a farm off to the side.

A little bit of their conversation got passed my ears, "Since the recent… economical… changes affecting the lower and middle classes, I have hired some hands and began to harvest organic vegetables, selling them at prices cheaper than the non-organic vegetables of the recent past. Business in booming, and as of late, I have become quite the… Mr. Rockefeller."

The car stopped, and the door opened. Eleazar gestured to the open door. "After you."

I stepped out in the sunlight, again. My eyes were met by a large, Mediterranean style house. I followed Charlotte into the house. In the foyer, there was thick, plush carpeting that made me feel as though I should take my shoes off, but neither Charlotte or Eleazar did, so my Keds stayed tightly tied to my feet.

"Charlotte, I need to go to take to one of the stable hands. Go take Isabella up to Jasper's old room."

Charlotte and I began to walk up the stairs, and as soon as we were out of earshot she whispered to me, "I feel so… weird. I was brought up prim and proper, but then, living in the west, I changed. It feels so weird having to be quiet, and remember not to run, and not to shout."

She opened a door to her left and motioned for me to go in.

The room had the same thick white carpet that was in the other parts of the house I had already seen. The walls were painted a deep red, and there were Jasper original portraits of his parents and himself. Against one wall was an armless and backless white couch, and against the opposite wall were two acoustic guitars. On the wall where the door was, were two small bookshelves on either side of the entrance. The top few rows held CD's, while the bottom one's held books.

On the wall facing the door was a large French window covered by billowy curtains. I went to look out of it, to find that it was really a French door. I opened the door to find another room. It was designed very differently than the other room, with pale blue walls and light hardwood flooring. There was a white canopy bed against one wall, and a door against the one opposite to the door. There were three or four large windows on the wall opposite the bed.

"Charlotte, this room doesn't seem anything like the Jasper I know."

She began nodding before I was even done talking.

"Yeah. When we moved, he changed. A lot. But I like the new him. My son used to be… quiet. He'd come home from school everyday to sit up here in this room, and he'd even take his meals in here. I really didn't know him all that well until you began dating him, when he started talking about you all the time."

She dropped my bags on the bed and turned to leave.

"We'll be taking dinner at exactly 6:30. The dining room is through the door to left from where we came in earlier. I have to go wash up. I'll be back later."

She walked out of the room leaving me to my thoughts. I walked over to the door and opened it, seeing exactly what I thought I would: a closet.

Jasper had a large, walk-in closet, and someone had unpacked all of the clothes that Charley and I had mailed ahead. Jasper's few clothes that he had left behind were moved to one side and mine were hanging on the rack beside them.

I fished my phone out of my pocket and texted Charley.

_wht knd of clths 4 dnnr?_

While I waited for a response, I headed towards to adjacent bathroom to shower. I turned the water up pretty warm, pulled my hair out of its ponytail. While I was brushing my hair, my phone buzzed.

_prt frml prt csual. im wearng a mxi skrt n mbrdrd tnk top_

_k_

I finished brushing my hair and got into the shower, finding my shampoo, conditioner, and body wash sitting on the little built in stone shelf. The shower was made of granite and had two benches made of the same beautiful rock, one opposite of where the water sprayer was and one underneath it.

I quickly showered using the new scrubby hanging from the shower head and got out. While I had been in the shower, someone had come in and left a towel on the toilet seat. I quickly toweled off and blew my hair out with my dryer. I wrapped myself in the towel and went back into the closet to pick something to wear. I ended up settling on something similar to what Charlotte was wearing: a floor length teal blue skirt and a light orange tank top.

I glanced at my cell phone, 6:27. I headed down the stairs toward the room were Charley had told me the dining room was. I entered the room to find Eleazar already there.

"So, Isabella, where did you and Jasper meet?"

"School."

He nodded.

"Interesting."

Charlotte walked into the room and sat down at the table across from me. Immediately after that, a man walked out with plates of food, almost like in a restaurant, and put a plate down in front of each of us.

On the plate was a piece of salmon on a bed of spinach. A pitcher of lemonade was on the table, along with a pitcher of iced tea, and other of ice water. I took a cup and poured a glass of the tea. I started eating, thankful that even though everything in this house so far was fancy and different, there was only one fork, one spoon, a butter knife, and a steak knife. That way, I didn't have to remember which one was which. .

After we had finished eating, Charley told me she had something to talk to me about.

We walked out of the house and down towards the orchards. We walked through where the apple trees were, and she reached up, grabbing onto a branch, pulling herself into the tree. She sat on one of the thicker branches, and reached a hand down to help pull me up. I sat beside her, and reached up, plucking two of the red fruits. I wiped mine off on my tank and took a bite.

It was one of the sweetest apples I had ever eaten, and instead of being soft like most Red Delicious apples are, it was firm and crisp like a Granny Smith.

"Bella, I want you to know. Things are going to be a bit different here. It's not like I want you to be someone you're not, or to think that I'm someone different than you met in Washington. But you can't call me Charley unless it's just the two of us. Also, don't expect anyone to call you Bella. Things are a bit more… formal… in Eleazar's household."

I nodded at her and took another bite of my apple.

"Yeah, I got that feeling."

She laughed, and bit her apple.

"Go into town tomorrow and get you a computer for school."

"Okay."

My phone buzzed so I pulled it out of my pocket. It slipped between my fingers and fell down to the ground, breaking in half.

Charlotte laughed, and brushed her hair back behind her ears.

"Looks like we'll have to get you a new phone, too."

"I never did like the RAZR. Too many problems."

We sat in the tree talking for a few more hours until the sun went down. We headed back to the house and Charlotte hugged me.

"I'll find you tomorrow morning to go to the electronics store. Sleep well, Isabella."

I hugged her back and headed up the stairs toward Jasper's room. I lay in bed for only a few minutes before falling asleep, due in part to the smell.

Even though he hadn't been in the room for ages, his smell was still everywhere. It was all over the sheets and pillow case.

I love his scent.

_It was another cold night in Forks, and we were at a football game._

"_Spartans!" Jasper screamed, laughing. I was sitting down between his legs, and he had his arms wrapped around my shoulders. I shivered. I couldn't help it. It was so _cold_!_

_He slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders._

"_You freak. You'll freeze."_

_He shook his head. "Nah. I'm weainga thermal Henley, a tee shirt, a sweater, and a hoodie. I'm fine."_

_I pressed my face into the shoulder of the jacket, inhaling his strong scent. It was so strong. It was like honey, but it wasn't feminine at all. It was a strong, masculine smell. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me up so that I was sitting in his lap, rather than between his legs. He hugged me close to him and snaked his arms around my waist. I suddenly could no longer feel the cold._


	9. Broken Glass

**A/N IMPORTANT!!!! PLEASE READ! Okay, so I know I haven't exactly been posting too often lately. It's because you lovely ladies (and a few guys) haven't really been reviewing. I got crap from some people about not posting every other day while I was on vacay, but there was not internet. I really need some reviews guys. If every one of you reviews, I'd have a ton of reviews. But 9 does not cut it for me. I want 110 before the next chapter. That's only 21 more than I've got now. You can do that easily. Please guys, review. It means a lot to me to check my email and see all of your feedback :) And yes, this chapter's short, but that's where I say it should end.**

I woke up to the sunlight streaming in through the large windows facing the bed. I stood, walking over to the window. Gazing out, I could see people already milling about in the orchards. Throwing my hair into a ponytail, I padded into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. I quickly ran my flat iron through my hair and went to get dressed.

I pulled on a sundress and sandal before heading down the stairs. I went downstairs to find Charlotte, so we could go downtown to get myself a new phone and a computer so I could finish high school. There were a couple pastel drawings of the orchards. Looking down into the corner, my suspicions were confirmed. _By Jasper Hale Whitlock._

Charlotte came rushing down the stairs with her hair in rollers and in her dressing gown.

"I need coffee. Then I need to get dressed. Then we can go."

I nodded and chuckled at her, then headed back up the stairs towards Jasper's room. I sat on the floor in front of his bookcase and pulled a scrapbook down off of the shelf.

On the first page was a picture of my boy wearing a tee-shirt with a basketball hat on backwards, his arm throw casually around some girl's shoulders. She had shoulder length red hair pulled back by a bandanna and it two braids. She was sitting in his lap, her arms wrapped around his waist. The caption below it read: _Jasper and Mayrie, age 11._

On the opposite page were a couple of dried flowers and ticket stubs. There was also a page ripped out of a notebook the said 'Jasper+Mayrie=TruLuv

On the next page was Jasper again, this time wearing what appeared to be a school uniform. Next to him was a girl wearing the same kind of uniform, and they had their foreheads pushed together. She was pretty, with long blond hair in loose waves down her back. The caption below that one read: _Jasper and Maree, age 13._

Next page, same thing. Him and a pretty girl looking at each other like they were in love, or at the very least, in serious like.

_Jasper and Miriam, age 13._

_Jasper and Mairee, age 13._

_Jasper and Maureen, age 13. _

_Jasper and Maryann, age 14._

_Jasper and Mari, age 14. _

_Jasper and Maryee, age 15._

_Jasper and Mariyee, age 15._

_Jasper and Marey, age 15._

_Jasper and Merry, age 16. _

_Jasper and Maurie, age 16._

_Jasper and Mariah, age 16._

And then, on the last page of the scrapbook: _Jasper and Marie, age 17._

There, on the page, was a copy of the picture I'd taken of Jasper and me down at First Beach.


	10. One and Lonely

**A/N I'm sorry. Forgive me? I never did get 110. **

Jasper's Point of View

My arms and legs were tied to the corners of the bed. Cold metal shackles were forcing me down, making movement in any direction impossible. Siobhan was standing above me with a syringe. She pushed it straight through my chest bone and into my heart, pushing a silvery liquid into the beating organ. Reaching behind her, she pulled an ice pick and a rubber mallet forward and placed them on the bed beside me. She hammered the ice pick into my skull just above the tear duct of my eye and wiggled it around.

My eyes spun around for a few long moments before focusing on the other side of the room. On the other side of the room stood every girl I had ever been "in love" with.

Mayrie, the 11 year old I had been in love with when I was much younger. I could suddenly see all of the things about her that were unattractive. The clumsily applied makeup, the red hair that was thick and frizzy and the scars from where she'd scratched the chicken pox years ago.

The 13 year old Maree, with the too long, overly processed blonde hair and the fake eyelashes that made her look remarkably like a bug.

Miriam with the extensions that weren't quite the same texture or color of the first 8 inches of her hair.

Mairee with the missing front teeth from where she'd ran straight into a sliding glass door.

Maureen whose skin was always too hot, too red, and her voice always too loud.

Maryann with the 60-year-old man eyebrows.

Mari who thought she was Goth, with the black lipstick and too white foundation.

Maryee who always had her eyes open a bit too far, her smiles always a bit too wide, and her voice a tad too loud.

Mariyee who had a bald head. Not because she had leukemia or alopecia. But because she wanted to start a trend.

Marey who was 5'8 and only weighed 96 pounds.

Merry who wanted to be an actress and was constantly dying her hair and changing her makeup.

Maurie who had her eyes rimmed so black with eyeliner that she looked like a raccoon.

Mariah who was manlier than I was.

And then, Bella walked in through the door pushing a cart. She stuck an electrode on each of my temples, one on each side of my chest, and another on the back of my neck. Switching on a machine on the cart a shock was sent through my entire body. Even through the pain in forehead and the crippling shocks racking my body, I realized: Bella was the one person in the room I could still see clearly. Her long mahogany hair, warm chestnut eyes, and skin clear with the exception of a light dusting of freckles across her nose.

There was nothing to excuse the way I had acted. And before I blacked out, I realized: she is the only person I've ever really loved, and she was all I wanted.

And then I blacked out.

~.~

I shot out of bed, the book Bella gave me falling to the ground with a muffled thump. I'd been looking at the book every night before bed since she left thinking about how I'd ruined our relationship. The envelope she'd packed along with it fluttered to the ground.

_I'd forgotten to read that_.

I lifted the flap and pulled out the handwritten letter.

_Jasper,_

_I don't want to leave. Things suck here with everyone hating me, and you being in Seattle, but it's not worth it to stay behind. You are the only thing that could ever make me want to stay. If you must know, you are the driving force behind my 'makeover'. I wanted to look pretty for you. Ever since you're first day at Forks Senior High, I've wanted to be the girl on your arm. You're funny, charming, and handsome. _

_I love you, Jazz._

_And as soon as you can, I want you to come back out here and we'll get an apartment somewhere._

_~Bella_

I threw a pair of sweats and a tee-shirt on over my boxers and ran out of the door, forgoing shoes. I made it down to the common area and grabbed the phone off of the hook. I dialed the number that was so familiar to me. It went straight to voice mail. Either she was screening her calls or her phone was off.

"_Hello, this is Sally's microwave. Her answering machine just eloped with her tape deck, so I'm stuck with taking her calls. Say, if you want anything cooked while you leave your message, just hold it up to the phone."_

I dialed my dad's house phone.

"Hello?"

"Mom! I have to talk to Bella! It's important!"

"Jasper?"

"No, your other kid. Yes! I have to talk to her now."

"Fine." I heard her set the phone down and a minute later I heard Bella.

"What, Jasper?"

"Bella. Last night I had this crazy dream, and I remembered everyone I'd ever dated. Then I realized that you are better than any of them ever were and I shouldn't have treated you the way I did. No one is ever there for me the way you are, and no one get me like you do. You're funny, smart, beautiful, and just… better than anyone I've ever met. You probably don't really want to hear from me right now, but I needed to tell you."

I heard her sigh into the phone, and then there was a familiar sound, the slats on my bed shifting.

"Jasper, I found a scrapbook on your shelf."

"You mean the one with all my old conquests in it? I kept that to compare with my friends, years ago. I forgot about it."

"Then why the hell is there a picture of the two of us that _I _took in there? And why does it have me as Marie?"

"I haven't been back in Texas to change it. I did send a photo to my dad a few months ago though?"

"But how did your dad know that Marie is my middle name?"

"I don't know. Bella, my dad isn't a good person. You need to stay as far away from him as you can, can you do that?"

She sighed again. "Yes, Jasper."

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"I really am sorry about the way I was acting."

"I know, babe. Just… why?"

"I don't even know. I loved your book. And the letter… I'm a douche."

She laughed, and I smiled at the sound. "Yeah… but I'm happy you like it. Look, I have to go. Char- your mom and I have to go get me a new phone seeing as I broke mine last night and I also need to get a computer for school."

"I love you."

"I love you too, Jazz."

Neither of us wanted to be the one to hang up the phone.

"Bye."

"Bye, Bella. Have fun shopping."

**A/N Can we get to 140? And if you really want to know the legitamate reasons for not posting, PM me and I'll share.**


	11. Lips Made Of Yarn

**A/N School's out in a weeks, and I'll be updating more. **

_Jasper Whitlock~ 2003_

I was ten years old. Old enough to not need a babysitter. But did my parents care? _No._ My mom was dressing to go out, and she was meeting my dad there.

"Maria will be here in 30 minutes. I'm going to head out, so I'll see you tomorrow morning. Maria will be staying here all night in the spare room."

Fan-tastic. So I'll have some awkward teenage girl with acne and headgear staying in the room directly across from mine, having sick thoughts about Algebraic functions and Biochemistry. Why couldn't I just stay at someone's house all night?

I heard my mom's car start, so I walked into the kitchen and started digging through the pantry. I needed food. I found a pack of Ramen, and pulled it out to make. Chicken? Nasty. Why can't they get _anything_ right? I don't eat the _chicken _flavor. I like the Oriental kind. I put the pack back in the pantry and kept looking. Chicken… Beef… Shrimp… _Lime Shrimp…_ **Lime Chili Shrimp**… Teriyaki.

Everything but the frikkin Oriental. I went over to the fridge and dug through it, finding the ham and potato soup that we'd had a few nights ago. Our cook was gone for the night, so I'd have to heat it myself. I put some in a large bowl and threw it in the microwave, watching it spin. I grabbed a dishcloth and used it to pull the hot soup from the microwave. I put it on the table and turned to get a Coke from the fridge. A shape in the doorway startled me. The shape walked forward.

"Jasper?" The voice was lilting, with a slight hint of a Spanish accent.

"Uh, yeah?"

"I'm Maria. I'm supposed to be watching you tonight."

She stepped entirely into the light, and I could feel my eyes bug out. She was tall and thin, and was wearing a white sundress than contrasted with her deeply tanned skin. She was so hot.

"Jasper?"

After eating, the two of us talked. About… anything, and nothing. Even though she was 6 years old than me, she listened to what I said, laughed at my jokes, and treated me like an equal.

I loved that.

**Jasper's Point of View~ Present Day**

According to Urban Dictionary, Maria is: A Latin word meaning sea of bitterness although most Marias have beautiful faces carved by angels. Marias are not bitter though. Most are witty and funny. Usually a beautiful woman with a kind heart. Many songs written about Marias: I Feel Pretty, Maria!, Dear Maria Count Me In, Climb Every Mountain, How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria, and more. Marias are fun loving and easy going. Gorgeous and hilarious women. A character from West Side Story and The Sound of Music. Amazing girls.

They're mostly correct. This Maria was not kind. She was more bitter than she let on. She'd spent a little over a year hanging out with me whenever my mom went out. I guess she was 'babysitting' me, but it was more fun than the word brought to mind. We talked about everything you could ever imagine. She was my first kiss, and my first real friend.

**Rosalie Point of View**

Life with Doreen was nice. She was more of a mother to me than my own ever was. We'd just gone shopping for a bassinet, a crib, changing table and other necessities. We'd painted the room a gender neutral light green, as I didn't want to know the gender until the baby was born. Doreen didn't have too much money to spend, but she loved to spend it on things for the baby.

Ever since Bella had left, my relationship with Alice had been stressed possibly beyond repair.

Whenever we talked now, it was hard to listen to her. I'd never really noticed before with the buffer of Emmett, Jasper, and Edward, but she was incredibly vain and shallow. Everything she said was about her looks, or clothes, or how she'd tried to make nice with Bella who'd done nothing to help her achieve that goal. I'd also missed the fact that Bella had been such a contributing factor to the happiness of all of us. She was so funny, and was always cracking jokes.

I never would have admitted it a few weeks ago, but I preferred Bella's company to Alice's.

I was at the mall looking for a few pairs of sweats, something comfortable and with an elastic waistband.

"Rosalie?"

I turned, and saw none other than Edward, with his hand in a short guy with black hair's back pocket.

"Edward!" I ran over to him and hugged him. He picked me up easily and spun me around. I'd been finishing the last of my schoolwork at home, rather than going in and having to deal with the looks of the schoolchildren, so I hadn't seen him in forever. He put a hand on my slightly round stomach and smiled.

"Emmett's ridiculously excited, isn't he?"

I smiled and looked at him, putting my hand beside his.

"Yeah. I'm living with his mom now, in his old room. It's hard, not having him."

Talking about Emmett made something flash in his eyes. "Oh, sorry," he pulled the boy behind him forward. "This is Ben. My boyfriend."

Ben smiled and tossed his head a little, his 'flippy' black hair flying to the right side of his head. He reached out one long, lithe hand.

"Ben Cheney."

"Rosalie Hale."

"Edward talks about you and your friends a lot. It's nice to meet you for real. I was beginning to doubt if you really existed."

I smiled at him. "I do. And it was nice to meet you, and to see you again, Edward, but I really need to run. I'll talk to you soon?"

"It was nice to meet you too."

"Bye, Rose."

They took off in one direction and I in the other. I was in Penney's with an arm full of clothes when some two women ran into me, making me drop everything.

One looked down her nose, as the other laughed. They started to walk away, but their voices traveled back. "How old do you think she is? 16? And pregnant?"

"Girls these days have no morals. At all."

I couldn't help it, and I burst into tears. I sunk to my knees on the ground and started to clean my things up. When I stood, I felt a hand on shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

I nodded and wiped my eyes, looking at the man beside me. "Yeah. It's just…"

He smiled and took the things from my hands. "Those two women used to go to school with me. They've always been like this. Let me pay for these for you. I'm Royce."

**Bella's Point of View**

"I'm not getting a Mac."

"Bella, yes. You are. PC's suck. You are getting this Mac, and you will use it."

"No. It's too expensive! Look at that price! No. I can just get that one." I pointed to a cheaper Sony on the shelf across from us.

"Alright. Go next door to Macy's and find some more weather appropriate clothes. I'll get your electronics and then come pay for those."

"Charley! No! You're not paying for this. Besides, don't you have a limit on that card?"

She raised an eyebrow at me. "No. As a matter of fact, I don't. Now go."

I trudged out of the store and went next door to Macy's. I found some skirts, tanks, and some sandals. I was milling around in the jewelry section when Charley appeared near me. "Let's go."

She ushered me out the door and into a waiting car before going to pay for my things.

She came back and sat beside me. "Here."

In my lap she placed a Macbook Air, an iPhone, and a Canon EOS-1Ds Mark III.

"How'd you know about the camera?"

"Jasper told me. I thought that you should have the best that I could get for you. He showed me some of the photographs you've taken, and I'd love for you to take some for around the house."

I smiled and hugged her. "I don't deserve this. Thank you. Just… thank you. So much."

"Bella," Charley grabbed my face between her hands and looked into my eyes. "You do deserve this. You've made my son happy, and you make me happy. You are a good person, and you deserve the best that money can buy. You may not want it, but I like to spend money on you. I feel as if I'm somehow paying you back for all you've done. The things that happened with Jasper... you're still with him after that. And that's just… amazing. Almost anyone else would have run to the hills, but you stayed. Thank you for being there. For my son. For me."

**Alice's Point of View**

My life sucks. I can never talk to Rose anymore, Emmett's gone, Edward doesn't want to have anything to do with me and Jasper's gone too. I should go see Bella! I grabbed my keys and drove over to the Swan's house. I knocked on the door, and waited. Bella's car wasn't there, but the cruiser was. I ran the bell and knocked again. Maybe Charlie will let me in and I can wait for her. I rang the bell again.

"Jesus! Relax! I'm coming!"

Then hurry up, _chief._

He opened the door. "Alice?"

"Is Bella home?"

He threw me a look as though to say _are you retarded?_

"Yeah… she left with Charley. A while ago. I'll tell her that you came by when she calls again."

"Can I have her number?"

He bit his lip and scratched his neck. "I'm not sure if she would like that. I'll ask and see if I can get her permission, but if she doesn't want me to, then I won't. You two used to be best friends, but I'm not sure how she'd feel if I just did that. So… I'll have to get back to you with that one."

Well. I turned and ran back to the car. I could feel my throat choke up slightly. No…. I don't cry… Bella and I were so close to making nice. And now… she's gone?

**A/N Review, please. It's what makes me do this. I'll be editing my early things. Because I get headaches reading that stuff. Wanna go review Button Boy? It'd mean a lot.**


	12. I Missed Your Skin When You Were East

**Really? 4 reviews? What the **_**dProxy-Connection: keep-aliveCache-Control: max-age=0k**_**? Okay, I get that you guys are so busy twiddling your thumbs or whatever, but if you can click the link in the automated emails, you can also review. Seriously. You guys are the same people who gave me close to 50 reviews in one chapter on CYHAWFM, and although this story hasn't picked up too much yet, I read every review. Here's bait: when you review, I'll send you a small little drabble from any character's point of view that has already been mentioned. Just request it when you review. **

**Jasper's Point of View**

I felt a little better after talking to Bella. I went back upstairs from the common room and went back to my room. Siobhan was stretched across her bed without her usual hoodie on.

"What's wrong?"

She cracked an eye open. "You don't know why I'm here, do you?"

"Well, I was under the impression that you were my roommate."

She rolled her eyes and looked at me. "Very funny. I meant why I'm here in _St. Elks Rehabilitaion Facilities._"

"I don't actually."

"Come here, Jasper." I crossed the room and sat on the edge of her bed. She flipped her arms over. They had been laying palms down, but flipping over I could see the inside of her forearms. From her wrists to the top of her shoulder.

"I forgot that it's down the road, not across the street. Yeah, I was trying to kill myself. I failed, and almost cut both arms off. Give me an arm." I held my left arm out to her. She slowly wrapped a hand around my forearm before squeezing gently.

"That's about all I can do now."

"Siobhan…"

She shook her head, her hair, now an electric green, flying around. "No. I don't want sympathy."

"Is that why you usually wear long sleeves?"

She nodded. "Yeah. But my 'assignment' from my therapist was to wear short sleeves. You know? Kind of… show people my problems. Get over the hatred of the scars. I have to go. I'll see you at diner, right?"

I nodded at her and quickly hugged her.

After that, I immediately went to my desk and pulled out a piece of paper and a pen.

_Bella,_

_I know that I haven't always been the best boyfriend in the world. But ever since I saw you on my first day at Forks High, I realized what my life had been lacking in Texas. You. I never really believed in the whole 'love at first sight' thing. But even before you had your transformation, I knew that you were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Admittedly, I hadn't ever really heard you talk until the first day junior year, but I knew I loved you. _

_Love. Completely overplayed in today, but I love you. You are singlehandedly, the best thing in my life. It doesn't matter that we're on opposite sides of the country, no one has ever made me feel the way you do. My heart beats for you. Forget ba-dum, my heart beats Bel-la. No joke. Listen sometime. _

_You are my best friend, and my soul mate. I can't live without you, and I know for a fact that I want to spend forever with you. I'm not the best friend, or the best boyfriend, but I love you, and I want to always be there for you._

_I've missed your skin while you are east. I miss the smell of freesia and strawberry._

_I love you._

_Jasper x_

I folded it up and stuck it in an envelope with some drawings I'd done before writing my address in Texas on it. I slipped my shoes on and went back downstairs to where the common area was. I walked over to the receptionist of that part of the building. "Do you think you could get this mailed out for me?"

She shook her head. "We'll have to check it and any reply for anything illegal to detrimental to the health of you or any of the other patients. Can you please fill out this form?"

She pushed a paper towards me and handed me a pen.

Name of Sender… **Jasper Whitlock**

Name of Recipient… **Bella Swan**

Contents…** A letter and some drawings**

Receiving Address…**7394 E. Red Cedar Ln., Dallas, TX**

Reasons for sending…

I looked up at the receptionist. "What would my reason for sending be if I was just sending a letter to my girlfriend?"

She frowned. "Personal."

Reasons for sending… **Personal**

I slid the paper back towards her with the letter on top of it. "Done."

"Thank you, Mr… Whitlock." She smiled at me. "If there are any problems regarding the content of this letter, expect to hear from me _very_ soon."

I nodded. "Thank you…" I looked down at her name plate, and paled. "Thank you… Maria."

**Edward's Point of View**

It was nice to introduce Ben to Rosalie. I though it would be weird, but Rosalie was really nice about it. I know for a fact that without Alice around, Rose was a nice person. I wanted him to meet Alice, as well, but I wasn't sure if that was a good idea. How would Alice react if I took the person I'd broken up with her for to meet her? But then again, I haven't met… Jace, or whatever his name was. I pulled my phone out of my pocet and dialed the familiar number.

"Hello? Edward?"

"Hi, Alice. I was wondering, could I introduce you to my boyfriend?"

Alice chuckled. "Sure, you want to meet mine?"

Even though I wasn't… _in love_, per se, with Alice, but it did hurt a little bit to know that she'd been seeing someone else while we were together.

"Alright. So… where do you want to do this?"

She out right laughed that time. "Edward! Don't make it sound so painful! It's just two old friends introducing each other to their significant others Don't worry. We'll have fun. Do you want to meet at The Lodge? Say… 6? We can get dinner, and then maybe go see a movie after?"

I nodded before realizing she couldn't see me. "Yeah. That works."

"Alright. We'll see you then."

I hung up the phone and called Ben. "Hey baby."

"Hey, Edward. What's up?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to meet another one of my old friends and her boyfriend for dinner and a movie tonight."

"Which friend?" he asked, purely questioning not sounding uneasy.

"Alice."

"Your ex? Uhm… sure? That works. What time?"

"We're meeting her at The Lodge at 6 o'clock. Do you want me to pick you up or do you want to ride alone?"

He sighed. "I'll meet you guys there. If… that's okay?"

Silly boy. "Ben, whatever you want to do works for me Really. I'm not the overbearing type. It's however you feel comfortable."

I heard him exhale in relief. "Alright. I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Sure. See you then baby."

I hung up the phone and went downstairs. My mom was in the kitchen making sandwiches for lunch.

"Want one?"

I went to the fridge, pulling out a can of strawberry Fanta. "Sure."

I sat at the counter and continued to drink my soda. "What kind do you want, baby?"

"Could I have one of the pastrami and mustard ones with swiss cheese?"

She smiled and ran a hand over my hair. "I thought you'd say that. She reached to the other side of the counter and handed me the already made sandwich. "I already heated it for you, too."

I smiled back and stood to hug her. My mom was one of the most important people in my life. When I'd come out to my parents, she was nothing if not supportive, even though my dad was a little less understanding. He didn't hate me or anything, but he did act a bit differently towards me now.

I sat back down and began to eat my sandwich. _Delicious_…

My mom sat beside me with her ham sandwich and nudged me with her shoulder. "So, it's Friday night. What are your plans?"

I finished my bite of sandwich before wiping the mustard off of my face. "I'm going out with Ben and we're meeting Alice and her boyfriend at The Lodge, then we're going to catch a movie."

She sighed. "I remember when your father used to take me out for dinner every weekend. We did that for about 3 years after we got married, but stopped after you were born. I miss that."

I took a swig of my soda. "Why don't you take him out?"

She shook her head. "Woman don't ask the guy out, it's the other way around."

"Mom, I know you just didn't say that. Mom, it's 2010. Woman _can_ be in charge now. You were born in the '70's, you should really not be saying that."

"Guess you're right. Go get ready for your get together. I'll see you when you get home. I have to get to a PTA meeting, and your dad is working late all night."

She kissed the top of my head and took our plates, putting them in the dishwasher. I emptied my soda before standing to head upstairs. I recycled the can, and hugged my mom again before heading up the stairs. I went into my room and plugged in my phone so that I'd have enough charge when I went out. I turned on my radio, "Notion" by Kings of Leon thudding through the speakers.

I went to the closet and started to look for something to wear. I reached up to grab a sweater, before remembering that I had a box full of things on top of my sweaters. I reached up and tried to pull the box to the side. I could feel the box start to fall, and I knew for a fact I wouldn't be able to catch it. I jumped to the side, as my box fell, and bowling ball fell out of it, slamming into the bottom of the door. The force knocked the door out of its track and fell. It hit me hard, and my vision swam.

**Alice's Point of View**

I walked into the kitchen, where James was eating a bagel. "You're eating? Really? We're about to go meet my friends for dinner. Put that down."

He smiled sheepishly and slowly set the bagel down, keeping his eyes locked with mine the entire time.

I smiled and kissed him. "Pig."

He wrapped his arms around my waist. "Your pig."

"You better be. I'm going to go change. Wait here."

"I can't come?"

I rolled my eyes at him, "No, you can't. You can sit here and wait."

I went upstairs and searched my closet. I decided on an older Glamour Kills shirt and a high waisted navy skirt with a two inch elastic waist. I slipped on a pair of yellow Mary-Jane pumps and grabbed a purse, throwing in my phone, wallet, keys and camera. I walked down the stairs to get James. As I walked into the kitchen to find him, I saw the bagel missing.

"You just couldn't help yourself, could you?"

He bent his head before looking up at me through his lashes. "What ever are you talking about, dearest?"

I rolled my eyes before smacking the side of his head. "What the hell is wrong with you? We're about to go eat, but you can't wait?"

He hugged me, burying his nose in my black hair. "I'm sorry, Allie Cat. Is there anything I can do to make it up, baby?"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand. "Later, right now, I have a date with some really freaking good prime ribs."

**Peter's Point of View**

The lights were out, the water was no longer working and the electricity had been shut off ages before. I could keep my computer charged with a solar powered generator. Seven hours a day I had a strip laid out in the sunlight, and at night I would have a song playing repeatedly until the computer ran out of power again. Hate Me by Blue October.

Until I absolutely needed to, I sat motionless in Charlotte's closet. The smell of her perfume clung to the clothes she'd left behind, and the carpet. My face pressed into the unforgiving fabric, rough against my skin. I hadn't shaved in weeks, and I hadn't bathed. I had plenty of water, but I was conserving it so I didn't need to leave the house to get more for as long as possible.

I heard the generator beep. _Fully charged._ I went over to the computer and powered it on. The song started to play, and I settled back onto the carpet. I heard a dull pounding on the front door.

"Peter!"

Charlie?

I pulled myself back down the stairs and trudged down. My dad was downstairs, I could see him through the window.

"Peter, let me in! I will break the door if I have to."

I laid back onto the couch to watch him. If he intends to bust in, then I may as well let him have his fun.

"Really, Peter?"

I heard him sigh, and he threw a shoulder into the door. It burst open, dust catching the sunlight behind him.

"Get up."

I looked up at him. The music was still shaking the floor upstairs, and Charlie winced. He walked upstairs and I heard the song shut off. He came back down the stairs and sat on the opposite end of the couch and looked at me. "Peter. She's gone. You're the one who drove her away."

"No. Jasper drove her away. It was Jasper. Not me. _Him._" Charlie looked over at me.

"How, Peter? How was it Jasper's fault?"

"He told her how unhappy he was. How he hated coming here, and wanted to be back with his _father_. I was his _stepfather_. I don't _count_. He never liked me. Charlotte was the only thing about him that was okay."

My father placed a hand on my shoulder. "Son, it's not Jasper's fault. Charlotte had to choose whether she would stay or go, and you made the choice for her."

And as soon as my dad had said that, it hit me.

_I did this._

I sat in that chair for hours after Charlie left, not moving. I finally got up and started to clean the house. I turned on the radio. Why is it that when you're at your worst, the radio mocks you? It was just starting a JET song.

_Take my photo off the wall_

_If it just won't sing for you_

_'Cause all that's left has gone away_

_And there's nothing there for you to prove_

I let the song play, but blocked it out as I cleaned. Over on the mantle of the fireplace were various pictures of my broken family. Charlotte and I, Charlotte and Jasper, Jasper and I, and Jasper and Bella.

_Oh, look what you've done_

_You've made a fool of everyone_

_Oh well, it seems likes such fun_

_Until you lose what you had won_

_Give me back my point of view_

_'Cause I just can't think for you_

_I can hardly hear you say_

_What should I do, well you choose_

Dad was right. This _was_ my fault. I really did do this. Charlotte would've stayed. And _I hadn't let her_. Was there anyway at all I could make this right?

_Oh, look what you've done_

_You've made a fool of everyone_

_Oh well, it seems likes such fun_

_Until you lose what you had won_

_Oh, look what you've done_

_You've made a fool of everyone_

_A fool of everyone_

_A fool of everyone_

I needed to find some way to get Charlotte to come back. It would involve apologizing. Lots of it. An apology, that would have to be delivered in person.

_Take my photo off the wall_

_If it just won't sing for you_

_'Cause all that's left has gone away_

_And there's nothing there for you to do_

_Oh, look what you've done_

_You've made a fool of everyone_

_Oh well, it seems likes such fun_

_Until you lose what you had won_

I would need to find out where she was right now, and go there. Buy her something to show I was serious. A _real_ gift, something that would show her that some thought went into it. I needed my Charlotte back.

_Oh, look what you've done_

_You've made a fool of everyone_

_A fool of everyone_

_A fool of everyone_

**A/N2 Okay, so I've had seven or eight people asking me the same question (more of them than the people who reviewed).**

"**Your story in Click about Maria doesn't match with the one in this story."**

**Well. It will. Trust me. **

**Song: "Look What You've Done" by JET**


	13. Chapter 13

**Attention readers:**

**I'm going to be taking a little break from this story. I will not be deleting anything, and I will be coming back rather soon. But I have some personal and creative things I need to work through. So, I will take a little break, and work on the next chapters of this story. **

**Not to point fingers, but I'm feeling rather unappreciated as a writer, as my number of readers and reviewers and dropped dramatically. I went from getting anywhere from 15 to 35 reviews to getting only 3 or 4, and it's a little bit depressing. So, I'm going to take a break, write a bit, and hope that I can come back with some stuff to make you guys want to review. And **_**none**_** of the four reviewers took the bait and asked for their little snippet. **

**If you want to hear the other reasons for my temporary break, PM me. **

**I'll you lovlies soon.**


	14. Sugarcane

-Connection: keep-aliveCache-Control: max-age=06647659 **A/N How sad is it that you guys reviewed more when I said I would be taking a little break, than on the previous couple of chapters. Combined.**

**Ben's Point of View**

I had been sitting in the restaurant for 20 minutes waiting for Edward or his friends. Finally, Alice, whom I recognized from a photograph he'd shown me, walked in with a guy. I stood up and waved her over.

"Alice? Hi, I'm Ben."

She smiled and hugged me lightly. "Hi, Ben. This is my boyfriend, James. Where's Edward?"

I frowned as we all sat. "He hasn't showed up yet. I thought maybe he was with you."

Alice pulled out her phone as James stared at me from across the table. _Creeper._ "I'll call him. This isn't really like him to just not show up."

She held the phone to her ear for a moment before sighing and hanging up. "Straight to voicemail."

I put my head on my hand and handed each of them a menu. "That's… great. Well, let's not wait on him. He'll get here when he feels like it."

We ordered our drinks and started talking. Well, Alice started talking anyway. James didn't really say much of anything, just stared intently at Alice.

"So, Ben, where did you and Edward meet?"

I loved the fact that she was nice to me and was making an effort to make conversation even though I was dating her ex.

"We met at that music store near over by Puget Sound. I was buying sheet music for my violin when he was buying some for his piano. We were both looking for Moonlight Sonata by Beethoven, and the only copy available was the one that had violin, piano, cello and viola, so only one of us could get it unless we ordered it and waited. We spent almost half an hour arguing over who could take it, but he was insisting that it was 'ungentlemanly' of him to take it, and I should. I have mostly the same argument. So, we went Dutch on it, on the agreement that we'd get together and play a duet."

James scoffed. "_Violin? Piano?_ That all sounds rather _gay_, if you ask me."

I rolled my eyes at him. "No one asked you. But yes, Edward _is_ my boyfriend."

Alice gave James a look before reaching across the table and placing a hand on my arm. "I think it's sweet."

The waiter came by and took our orders then. James and Alice ordered prime ribs and I got spinach and mozzarella ravioli.

"Spinach and Mozzarella? Good lord. That's not _man_ food. Why not eat real food?"

"Well, _James_, first, I'm a vegetarian. Secondly, I've got swim team tomorrow morning and I'd hate to have heartburn or something at practice."

He laughed. "You are such a fairy."

Alice gasped and slapped at his arm. "_James! _Stop. You're embarrassing me!"

He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his soda. "Whatever. Baby, I'm leaving. Bring my food home."

He pulled her face up to him and kissed her roughly before leaving. She slipped a bit closer to me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "Ben… I'm so sorry. I didn't know he was going to do this. I… I'm so embarrassed. I can't believe he could say something like that to you. I'd just like you to know, that even though he says some stupid things, I don't agree with many of them."

I lightly wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Thanks Alice. For every few people that are supportive, there are 3 times as many who aren't."

The waiter brought our food out, furrowing his eyebrows at the 'loss' of James.

"Excuse me," Alice said, "can you put that in a box or a bag?"

The waiter whisked James' ribs back into the back. Alice and I started to eat.

"Alice, those ribs smell really good. Share?"

Alice chuckled and looked at me. "Didn't you just…?"

"James sucks. I lied. I'm not a vegetarian, and swim team was today, not tomorrow. Share?"

She grinned and cut the rack of ribs in half before stealing half of my ravioli. "Let's _both_ share."

As we ate our food, we talked about all sorts of things. "How's Edward been since we split?"

I took a bite of the pork before answering. "Edward was feeling really guilty feeling when we first met. He felt bad after the telling you he was gay, and he felt horrible about what he did to Jasper and Bella."

Alice shook her head. "I haven't really talked to him all that much lately, so I was hoping to see him tonight and maybe apologize about the way I handled some things. I wasn't a very good friend to any of the old gang after Emmett left. You know about Emmett, right?"

I shook my head. "No. Edward doesn't like to talk about his life with you guys very much. He said it was a dramatic time in his life where he made bad choices that caused him to lose nearly all of the people important to him. He said that… it was a time in his life when things got hard, and now that things were going great he'd rather focus on me than what happened before. He didn't hate you guys or anything, he just… he's sad, when it comes to that part of his life."

Alice gently hugged me. "Edward needs us all right now. I think it'd be great if everyone could get back together, but we can't. Emmett and Jasper are… gone… Rosalie is staying with Emmett's mom, and Bella is with Jasper's mom in Texas. Edward and I are the only ones left here. The two of us need to be the friends for Edward that he needs right now."

I nodded at her. "You're a nice girl, Alice. I like spending time with you, and I can see why you were Edward's best friend. And I can spend time with you and Edward because he needs it and you're someone I could spend time with. But I can't do that if James is around. I'm living with my older sister Angela because my parents don't talk to me anymore since I came out."

Alice frowned and hugged my arm that had a death grip on my glass of soda. Edward's parents were very supportive, but one of these days, he's going to get a shock when he realizes that everyone isn't going to be like that. Part of me is glad that he's not here tonight because he's a pretty sensitive guy, and I'm not sure how he'll start to react when people start to get prejudice towards our relationship.

Alice and I finished eating, and she half smiled. "Well, Ben, it was really nice to meet you. You're exactly what Edward needs right now. I've got to go, I have an appointment in the morning."

I stood when she did, knowing it was polite. She surprised me by wrapping her arms around my waist and hugging me. "Edward has my number. Call me sometime, I'd really like to this again."

She reached into her bag and pulled out some money, which I batted away. "No, I've got it. Go ahead and head home."

She smiled at me and hugged me again. "Thanks, Ben. You don't know what this means to me."

She grabbed James' food and headed out, waving right before she walked out of the door.

The waiter came back around. "Could I interest you in some desert, maybe?"

_Why the hell not?_

"Could I have a slice of the strawberry cheesecake?"

"Sure, sir. I'll have that right out."

He walked away, and I started thinking over the night. Edward had skipped out and embarrassed me, and James was a bigot, but I'd gotten a new friend out of Alice.

The waiter deposited my cake along with a new fork and I started to eat. I was about halfway through with it, when Edward walked in. He had a frantic look in his eyes and rushed over to my table.

"Oh my god, Ben. I'm…"

I pulled 40 dollars out of my pocket and threw it on the table.

"Save it. You embarrassed me and left me on my own tonight. Alice's boyfriend is a complete homophobic jerk and I was left to face that on my own. At least I got a friend out of Alice, or I would've left earlier. I don't want to see you right now."

I stood and left, opting to go on a walk before driving home. I could hear Edward's beaten red chucks hitting the sidewalk as he ran after me.

"Ben, wait!" he put a hand on my shoulder.

"Get _off_ of me! I said I don't want to see you!" I pushed him back, but he corrected and didn't fall.

"Ben, will you at least let me explain?"

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. "Yes, please, explain. Try."

He smiled and looked at me gratefully. "Ben, thank you. You probably won't believe this, though. Okay, I was in my closet looking for a sweater to wear and I accidentally knocked some things off of my shelf and the door slid out of the track and hit me. Next thing I know, I'm looking at my phone and I've got dozens of missed calls from you and Alice, and it's 9:30. I came over here, Alice's car was already gone, but yours wasn't."

"Nice try. You wanna tell me the real reason you were nearly 4 hours late?"

He shook his head and looked at me. "Ben, that's the real reason, I promise. I have no reason to lie to you."

How stupid does he think I am? "Edward. I need you to either tell me where you really were, or I'm leaving."

"Ben! _That is the real reason!"_

I reached into my pocket and grabbed my keys. "You had your chance. Don't call me, alright?"

I opened my car door and jumped in, reversing out of my spot. Edward put his hands on the front of my car. "Don't do this!"

I rolled down the window and stuck my head out. "Move, or I swear to god I'm running your ass over."

He moved, and ran over to the sidewalk. I guess something in my face made him realize I was serious. Edward was in for a lot of pain if he thinks he can continue to lie to the people he claims he loves.

**Rosalie's Point of View**

I woke up to the sound of a hacking cough coming from the bedroom beside mine. I sat up as quickly as I could, and listened. The hacking, wet cough came again. I stood and walked into Doreen's room. She had a tissue covering her mouth as she coughed, and as soon as she stopped coughing she started sneezing.

"Doreen?" I stayed in the doorway, afraid to get closer in case I get sick: the doctor's told me to do everything I could not to get ill.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, as another cough wracked her body. "I'll go run to the store and get you some feel good food and meds. Need anything before I go?"

She shook her head as she continued to cough. I got into Emmett's Jeep, putting it into gear and heading towards the store. I grabbed a cart and roamed the aisles. I few people from around town were there whispering among themselves at the sight of me, in Emmett's basketball shorts and old tee shirt, with my pregnant stomach.

I mostly ignored them, and searched for foods that could make Doreen feel better. Orange juice, chicken noodle soup, ice pops, as well as some antibiotics, ibuprofen, and some more tissues. I also got some simple groceries for myself.

As I was turning the corner to go check out my cart ran headlong into someone else's. The eggs I had sitting in the child seat flew forward and broke on the ground in front of me, covering my flip-flopped feet and bare calves.

"Oh my god! I'm sorry, Rosalie!"

"Royce? You live in Forks?"

The man I'd met at the mall smiled at me. "Yeah. I just moved here a couple weeks ago, I'm living with my cousin James. I didn't know you were here. Hey, we'll have to get together sometime. Maybe… dinner and a movie?"

"Sorry, Royce. But I've got a boyfriend. So, no. Sorry."

He nodded. "I completely understand. Well, at least let me pay for your groceries, it's the least I can do since I ran into you, literally, _and_ broke your eggs."

I frowned. First he more or less forces me to let him buy me maternity clothes, and now this? "No, it's fine. I've got it."

His eyes tightened. "No. Go get more eggs. I am paying for this."

"_Royce. _I may be a girl but I'm fully capable of buying my own groceries."

He glared at me and grabbed my upper arm, leaning in close to my face. "**Get eggs. I'll be waiting by the register.**"

He released my arm and I stumbled back a bit. I turned on my heel and quickly hurried to the dairy section, suddenly afraid. I grabbed another carton of eggs and headed up front where Royce was unloading the contents of my cart. He placed the eggs on the conveyor next to a box of ice pops and smiled. "Was that so hard, Rosalie?"

**Bella's Point of View**

I was sitting in the dining room eating a bowl of fruit when Eleazar sat at the table across from me.

"How are you liking my home, Isabella?"

I smiled lightly, stabbing a cube of cantaloupe with my fork. "It's lovely. I can see why Jasper missed living here."

He smiled, and I felt uneasy. "This came for you today."

He reached into the inside pocket of his blazer and handed me an envelope. I flipped it over and looked at the return address on the back.

_St. Elk's Rehabilitation and Detoxification Centers_

I slipped my fingernail under the flap on the envelope and opened it. I pulled out a folded letter, as well as what appeared to be some drawings.

I opened the letter first, and Jasper's tight blocky letters met my eyes. My eyes teared up slightly at the familiar sight. I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand and blinked furiously for a moment. I refocused on the writing and started to read.

_Bella,_

_I know that I haven't always been the best boyfriend in the world. But ever since I saw you on my first day at Forks High, I realized what my life had been lacking in Texas. You. I never really believed in the whole 'love at first sight' thing. But even before you had your transformation, I knew that you were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Admittedly, I hadn't ever really heard you talk until the first day junior year, but I knew I loved you._

_Love. Completely overplayed in today, but I love you. You are single handedly, the best thing in my life. It doesn't matter that we're on opposite sides of the country, no one has ever made me feel the way you do. My heart beats for you. Forget ba-dum, my heart beats Bel-la. No joke. Listen sometime._

_You are my best friend, and my soul mate. I can't live without you, and I know for a fact that I want to spend forever with you. I'm not the best friend, or the best boyfriend, but I love you, and I want to always be there for you._

_I've missed your skin while you are east. I miss the smell of freesia and strawberry._

_I love you._

_Jasper x_

A tear fell on the paper and I moved it away from my face. I hadn't noticed that I was crying. I loved to know that Jasper was thinking about me and missing me possibly as much as I thought about him. Without Jasper, things had been harder recently. I lightly ran my finger over the paper, feeling the indentations from Jasper's pen. I unfolded the drawings.

One of them was a sketch from one of my favorite memories. Jasper and I were sitting at a Denny's, a cigarette on the ashtray between us. A thin trail of smoke lifted up, splitting in half, forming a heart above our heads. I smiled running a hand over the drawing. I could still remember that day like it was 5 minutes ago.

"_Bella, I'm hungry, do you want to go get some food?"_

_I looked up from my photographs, and into Jasper's eyes._

"_Where were you thinking about going?"_

_He blushed a little bit, and looked down. "Denny's."_

_I chuckled. "Sure, I haven't been there in ages. But let's go."_

_I went to grab my keys, but he shook his head._

"_We'll take my motorcycle."_

_After about 15 minutes of speeding along in the rare warmth, we were at the epitome of American breakfast joints._

_As we walked in, a tall, bored looking blonde said, "Welcome to Denny's, my name is Shelly. Table for two?"_

_Jasper nodded, and grabbed my hand._

"_Smoking or non-smoking?"_

"_Smoking," Jasper said, at the same time I said, "Non smoking."_

_I raised an eyebrow at him, but he refused to meet my gaze._

_Sheryl led us over to a booth, where we sat opposite each other._

"_Your server will be right with you."_

_I thanked her, and looked over at Jasper._

"_Smoking?"_

_He shrugged, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a pack of Marlboro's and a Bic lighter._

"_Didn't know you smoked." I said, not putting it as a question, but rather as a statement._

"_I stopped around the time I moved here. I've been smoking since I was 14. But things have been a little stressful lately, so I started back."_

_An equally tall, blonde and gorgeous woman to Sheryl walked up. "Hi, I'm BeckyAnn, may I get you anything to drink?"_

"_Coffee." I said._

"_Make that two."_

_Jasper took a long pull from his cigarette, before tapping it against the ashtray on the table. I held out my hand, for the cigarette. He obviously didn't know why my hand was out, and looked at it, before looking back at me. I threw a pointed look to his cigarette. He placed it in my hand, careful to keep the burning part off of my skin._

_We spent most of the morning in Denny's drinking coffee, and sharing that cigarette, food forgotten, as we talked about any and everything that popped into our heads._

I folded the papers back and placed them back in the envelope. I looked up to thank Eleazar, but he was gone. I stood and walked into my room, putting the letter on my bedside table. I saw a bunch of people lying under the apple trees in the orchard. They looked to have food, and there was music playing. I slipped on my shoes and headed out there.

I was about 30 feet from them when one of them jumped to his feet, shutting off the radio.

"Oh cague! Es la muchacha blanca, consiga trabajar o ella puede ser que diga al hombre del jefe!"

The others all stood, running to the nearest trees. I didn't know how to speak Spanish, really, but I could say some simple things.

"Cualquier persona sabe inglés?"

A tall tanned girl stepped forward. "Si. Yes. Sorry we weren't working. It was our lunch break and we weren't watching the clock. We'll work longer to make up for it."

I shook my head slowly. What was Eleazar doing to these people?

"That won't be necessary. I'm Eleazar's son's girlfriend, Bella. I won't tell if you won't. What's your name?"

"Eleazar? You mean hefe? My name is Renesmee. My brother Nahuel is the one who startled when you showed up. He's very afraid of being fired."

I reached up to the tree and pulled an apple down. I sat in the grass under the tree and polished it on my shirt before taking a bite. Renesmee smiled and followed my lead.

"Why is he afraid of being fired? Are you guys here… legally?"

She nodded, her oddly colored hair swaying in the breeze. "Si. But when our family was applying to get our immigration papers and green cards everyone was declined except for Nahuel and I."

I took another bite of my apple. "That makes since. How many are in your family?"

"Well, there's Abuela, Padre, my brothers Stefan, Benjamin and Felix as well as my sisters Kate, Sasha, and Renata, and my tia Renata. So 11, but only Nahuel and I were able to come over, the other 9 are still back home. We send most of our pay home so that they can apply again soon."

I heard a voice call from the other side of the path. "Nessie! Back to work, lazy!"

Renesmee stood and frowned. "Bella, it was nice to meet you. But I have to get back to work."

I stood with her and helped her pick apples and put them in the woven basket.

"I'll help."

**I'm about to go on vacation. So, I'll have time to write. I spent some time, talked to some people, and now I have an outline for a few chapters. I write faster when things are planned out. **

**Spanish translation (sorry for any mistakes)**

Oh cague! Es la muchacha blanca, consiga trabajar o ella puede ser que diga al hombre del jefe! = Oh shit! It's the white girl, get to work or she might tell boss man!

Cualquier persona sabe inglés? = Anyone know English?


	15. Weathervanes

**A/N Think you guys can give me 10 reviews? I only got four for the last chapter… Something that has been brought to my attention: I made it rather unclear, it seems, that Emmett and Alice's parents are divorced and estranged. Emmett and Alice were not switching houses every other weekend or something. Alice lived with her dad and 20 something step mother, and Emmett lived with his mother. **

**Bella's Point of View**

Over the next couple of weeks, I found myself helping Renesmee and Nahuel in the orchards more and more. They got paid based on the amount of apples they could pick from sun up to sun down, and with my help they were making more and more a day. They were only making $1 for every pound of apples that each of them could pick, and they kept 25 cents of every dollar for themselves. Eleazar provided food, clothing and shelter, but anything they might need or want besides that, they had to pay for themselves. Nahuel was still uneasy about my presence, but he greatly appreciated the extra help.

While Renesmee and I worked, we talked constantly about all sorts of things. She vaguely remembered Jasper, and knew that he wasn't the great and tyrannical leader that his father attempted to be.

Renesmee told me stories about her family back in Mexico, and I told her stories about my old group of friends. Aside from Charlotte, she knew more about me than anyone else female.

But one of the things that fascinated me the most about her was her hair. Depending on the time of day, and where she was standing in the light, her hair had almost all of the colors that one could think of. There was blond, and burgundy, and mahogany, and caramel, and amber, and various shades of red that reminded me of Edward. And to top it off, her hair was long, thick, shiny, and wavy. One day I asked her how she got it so shiny, and I could never have anticipated her answer. Her sense of humor was like non other.

"_I sacrifice 100 virgins in the moonlight on the banks of the Seine once a year, as well as 100 non-virgins in the sunlight on the banks of the Thames."_

"_Really? Because I sacrifice 99 to the Potomac, and I don't get results anything like that."_

_She laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "It's the one extra that makes all the difference. But no, I just coat it in mayonnaise once a week and leave it there for about 30 minutes before I wash it."_

I spent the rest of that day in the orchards helping Renesmee, and we'd worked until the sun went down. I took a quick shower and thought about Jasper. It was hard not having him around when I needed him, and he always knew what to say when I needed cheering up, even when I didn't know I needed it. Unbidden, the memories came forward.

_Jasper and I were sitting in my car driving to Port Angeles to see a movie. The sunlight was streaming in through the open windows, a rarity, and he had my hand securely in his. Jasper was the only person I allowed to drive my car, and he was well aware of the fact. He drove more slowly whenever I was in the car with him, triple checking at signs and crosses, as well as not playing the radio so that he could concentrate more. _

"_Why do you drive differently when you're with me?"_

_He quickly looked away from the road and into my eyes. "Because the most important thing to me is in this car."_

_He raised a hand and ran the back of it over my cheek before looking back at the road. I kissed his palm, recapturing his hand in mine. Neither of us said a word the rest of the drive. Neither of us had to._

I got out of the shower and blowdried my hair before climbing into bed. I was exhausted. I slipped my hand under my pillow where the letter and pictures were from Jasper and my hand met nothing but the cold sheet. And slid my hand to the left, then the right, but the envelope was nowhere to be felt. I sat up quickly.

_I need that letter._

I pulled the pillows and blanket up, dropping them on the floor.

_My letter was gone._

I ran over to my 'Jasper Drawer', where I'd kept other things he'd given me. There had been photographs, drawings, letters, notes.

_The drawer was empty._

I threw myself down on the bed, screaming into the pillow. I beat my fists and legs against the suddenly too-soft mattress as the tears rushed down my face. No… no…

I eventually fell into a fitful sleep. I woke up many times, and every time I reached my hand back under the pillow, hoping to find that letter, only to start crying again when I realized that it really was gone.

The next morning when I awoke, I hurried into the kitchen and drank copious amounts of coffee, hoping to make up for my lack of sleep. It didn't work. Instead, it made me keyed up and jumpy. Everything looked cleared, but slightly hazy at the same time. I seemed to be moving too quickly, and everyone around me seemed to be moving too slowly. I was helping pick apples, and Renesmee had climbed a ladder with Nahuel's help and was reaching the apples higher up that couldn't be reached on foot. I was getting the ones down low, and Nahuel had since taken the ladder and left with a group of men to another grove of trees. The smaller children of the workers ran out of the worker's quarters.

"Food's ready!"

Renesmee started to climb down the tree branches headed towards the ladder… that was no longer there. Her foot reached down and felt for the top step. Her leg muscles stretched down, searching out the ladder.

"Renesmee! Stop! The ladder's gone!"

She froze, glancing down before pulling herself back up to sit on a thick branch.

"Bella! Gracias! Gracias! Oh, gracias."

Nahuel heard us yelling and ran over. "Renesmee? Renesmee? Que Pasa?"

"Bella just saved my life! Nahuel, she saved me!"

Nahuel and I both looked at the branch where she was sitting, and even if the fall didn't kill her, it quite likely could have landed her in the hospital.

Nahuel reached over and grabbed my hand, shaking it vigorously. "Gracias. It means so much to me. If anything have happened to Renesmee… Thank you, Bella. Thank you."

**Edward's Point of View**

I'd called Ben's phone more times than I could count, before I got, "*** The number you have dialed in currently out of service. Please hang up and check the number, or try again later."

I threw a pillow over my face and started to scream. I needed someone to talk to. Someone who wasn't there that night, someone who wasn't aware of what was happening. Alice was there, Rose and I were a bit awkward still, Emmett and Jasper were gone, so that leaves… Bella.

I dialed her house number and Charlie answered. "Chief, I need to talk to Bella. Can I have her cell phone number?"

Charlie rattled off a number before hanging up. Bella was right. He _wasn't _a people person. I dialed the number, and almost immediately Bella answered.

"Hello?"

"Bella? It's Edward."

"Edward? What happened? Is something wrong?"

I laughed humorlessly. "No. I just… I want to talk to you about something."

I heard something move in the background, then her voice call out, "Nahuel, tell Nes that I'm taking a phone call! Okay, Edward. What's up?"

I recounted the story to her.

"… and because of all of that he won't answer any of my calls and I just don't know what to do. I tried to think of someone I could call who could help me out, and you were the only person I could think of."

Bella chuckled lowly. "Well, I was planning on coming out to visit Charlie in a few months, but I could try to come out sometime this week. It sounds like you need someone to talk to. Would you want to come out sooner?"

I ran a hand through my hair. "Bella, after all I've done to you, I really appreciate that you're willing to help me through this. You're a good friend."

I could hear her smile into the phone. "Exactly. Edward, you're my friend, and I've long since forgiven you. If you need support, I'll always be here for you, no matter what."

"Bella, I appreciate that more than you could ever imagine."

She chuckled again. "I've got to go: I have a plane to book."

We said our goodbyes and hung up the phone. Even after all of the malicious things I'd done to Bella and Jasper, she was able to forgive me. She was a great person.

**Bella's Point of View**

After getting off the phone with Edward I walked around the giant house looking for Charlotte. I quickly gave up, not finding her anywhere. I called her and found out she was in the library. I headed in there and sat in a chair next to her.

"Charley, do you think that I'd be able to go back to Forks for a few days? I want to see my dad, maybe visit Jasper and the rest of the old gang."

She put the book she'd been reading on the table next to her. "I don't see why not. I mean, you'll have to ask Eleazar because he'd be the one who would have to pay for the ticket, but I can't see any reason he'd say no. He's in his study if you want to ask him."

I thanked her and headed out to find his study. I finally found it and knocked three times on the closed door.

"Come in."

I opened the door, and he looked up from his computer. "Ah, Isabella. Come in, come in," he gestured at the seat in front of his desk. "Please, sit. What can I do for you?"

I sat in the chair across from him. "Eleazar, I was wondering if I would be able to go back to Forks for a week. I'd like to visit my dad, Jasper, some of my old friends."

He put his fingertips together and leaned forward, gazing at me.

"Yes, Isabella. I see no reason you shouldn't be able to visit your loved ones. I'll get you the tickets as soon as I'm done with my work for the day."

I detected the dismissal in his words and left the room after thanking him again. I went up to my room and started to pack a bag full of my clothes and toiletries. Halfway through that, there was a knock on my door.

"Come in!"

A petite woman walked in. "Miss Isabella, Mr. Eleazar has purchased your plane tickets. Your flight leaves at 10:30 tomorrow morning, and the car will be here at 8:00."

"Thank you." I called out after her, but she had already closed the door.

My plane landed at SEA landed at 2:45, and I rented a car for the week. The drive to the ferry was quiet, and once I was on board I popped open a book and started reading. The book made the time pass quickly, and before I realized I was driving off the boat. After a long and boring drive, I was finally in Forks.

Seeing that my dad's car wasn't in the driveway and I no longer had a key, I drove to Edward's house. As soon as the car pulled up in the drive, Edward ran out of the house. He opened my door and pulled me into a hug.

"Hi, Bella!"

I laughed and wrapped an arm around his waist. "Hi, Edward. So, tell me about Ben."

**Edward's Point of View**

We spent almost an hour talking. Well, I was talking, Bella was asking me questions about Ben and our relationship.

"Well, Edward, it seems that Ben might need some sort of proof of what happened. Can I see your closet?"

I led her upstairs, and showed her the door. The track was bent out of place, and there was a dent smashed in it from the bowling ball. "Well, this is pretty irrefutable. Just show him this."

I leaned down to hug her. "Bella, you're a good friend. Thanks."

She smiled and patted my shoulder. "I know. Can I use your shower? I feel all nasty from the plane."

I showed her where the upstairs bathroom was, and made sure she has clean towels before heading downstairs to make us some lunch. I was just putting a pizza in the oven when the doorbell rang. I went over and opened the door.

"What are you doing here?"

**A/N Review and tell me who's at the door! Anyone who gets it right gets a preview of the next chapter!**


	16. Storms

**A/N Thanks to everyone who reviewed! Good job **Lady Kira94 **and **Calina Malvagita Volturi **for guessing correctly!**

**Edward's Point of View**

"What are you doing here? I mean, it's not that I'm unhappy to see you, but after everything that happened I'm a little surprised to see you."

Ben looked at me, seeming embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Edward. Really, I am. But after everything you did to Jasper and Bella I wasn't sure if I could trust you, even though you'd been nothing but trustworthy to me. So, I guess I'd been waiting for something to just latch onto. I really regret not listening to you that night."

I opened the door wider and he walked in. He stood there in the foyer awkwardly staring at me for a moment, before I reached forward and hugged him. We stood there in the foyer for a few minutes before I let go. "Come on, I have something to show you."

I grabbed his hand and led him upstairs towards my room. I opened the door to my room and flicked on the light. I led him over to my closet and showed him the door. I could immediately see the regret on his face.

"Edward… I'm.. I just… I'm sorry."

I smiled and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, pulling him into me.

"It's okay. Really, it is."

I sat on the edge of my bed and he sat next to me.

"But I think we need to talk about the lack of trust going on here."

"Well, Edward, you tried your hardest to split up two of your best friends so you could get to one of them. And even though I know you know it was wrong, that just doesn't really sit right with me. So even though I know that that wasn't something you're likely to do again, just knowing that you did it once is kind of like this shadow that's always going to be hanging over our relationship."

I could feel my eyes widen, and I looked at him, "Are you saying that you won't want to continue our relationship?"

He sighed. "No, Edward. What I'm saying, is that I need you to promise me that all of the dishonest behavior is a thing of the past. If you feel like you don't like me as much, just break up with me, don't cheat. If you think I won't want to hear the real reason something didn't go as planned, tell me anyway. Does that make sense to you?"

I nodded at him. "I promise, Ben. And I'm sorry, I really am."

He leaned over and put his head on my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around his.

I could hear footsteps coming up to my room and realized I'd forgotten to tell Ben that Bella was in town. But before I could say anything, she was in the room heading toward my ruined closet to find clothes. "Hey, Edward, do you have some clothes I can wear? After I got out of the shower I realized I didn't have any."

Ben froze. "Who are you?"

Bella stopped and spun around. "Oh! I didn't realize you had company! I'm Bella."

Ben glared slightly at her. "Why are you here?"

I slapped at his arm. "You're being rude."

He glared up at me, "I don't care. Why is she here? We just went through the whole trust thing, and I can't trust you if you're inviting girls over and they're taking showers in your house. You're not really gay, are you? Lemme guess, bi-curious? Just a jerk? I'm done, Edward."

He stood and started to leave.

I am done with this shit.

I jumped up, putting my forearm across his chest and pushing him into the wall. "Why do you always assume the worst? Why can't you ever listen to me when I tell you something? Bella came here to help me fix the mess _you _made by not listening to me! Bella was in the shower because she'd just gotten off a plane a few hours ago and felt nasty. If you are going to doubt me at every turn, then we really _won't_ work. I've been nothing but honest to you, but that doesn't matter, you look at what I did in the past and assume that that's who I am now. I can't be in a relationship with _anyone_, guy or girl, who can't ever trust me. I won't spend forever walking on eggshells around you."

I dropped my arm, and he slumped down against the wall. "Get out of my house."

"Edward-"

I glared down at him. "I said, get out."

Bella looked at me. "Edward, he has a right to wonder why I'm here."

I looked over at her, while watching Ben out of my peripheral vision. "Bella, if it wasn't you, it'd be Alice, or Rose, or Emmett, or even Jasper someday. He doesn't _want_ to trust me, and want always comes before need."

Ben got up and left. Bella grabbed some clothes out of my closet and left. I sat down on the floor, and stared at the wall.

**Bella's Point of View**

I went back into the bathroom and headed outside, hoping I could catch Ben before he left. He was sitting on the porch swing on the patio, slowly swinging back and forth. His long hair was blowing back from his face every time the swing pushed forward.

"What, Bella? What do you want? You just saw Edward and me fall apart. What else could you possibly want to do?"

I sat beside him on the swing. "I want to hear your side. Why is it so hard to trust Edward?"

He looked over at me. "Won't leave the swing?"

"I'll take it to my grave."

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before beginning to talk. "When I was 6, we found out that my dad was cheating on my mom. He also gambled, and drank. He went to one of those slightly hokey rehab centers for bad behavior, and we thought he'd changed. My mom took him back, but then when I was 10… we found out that he had relapsed, and had been drinking again for years, even though he'd sworn he wouldn't. And then when I was 15, we found out that he hadn't been going to work every day like we'd thought. He'd spent years going to various malls and picking up women. Our bills were being paid off using money that my grandparents had left him, and it wasn't until that ran out that we discovered what had happened. He ran, and my mom and I have been living off of Velveeta and Spam since then. So since I was small, dishonestly has been a _very_ negative factor in my life, and my mother's easy reacceptances have made me not want to be that person. I don't ever want to be the person who gets used or abused."

I slowly reached out, and put a hand on his shoulder. "I think you need to tell Edward that."

He stood an knocked on the door, and I got back in the rental hard and headed back towards town. I stopped at a gas station to refill the tank, when the sun when back behind a cloud and my sunglasses made things too dark. I slipped them up and onto the top of my head. I turned and sat back into the car to grab my wallet and get my card so I could pay.

"Bella? Bella!"

I got back out of the car and slid the card while looking for the person calling my name. Rosalie came over, as fast as she could, considering how pregnant she was. I put the nozzle from the gas back and headed toward her.

"Hey, Rose. How've you been?"

She smiled and came a little closer. "Good." She placed a hand on her stomach. "This lil' guy has been kicking the hell out of my stomach though."

"Oh? Guy? You're having a boy?"

Rosalie quickly started shaking her head. "Emmett and I decided we're going to wait until that baby is born. I think it's a boy, but Emmett really wants a daughter. You still have my number, right? Call me while you're in town and we can get together."

I nodded. "Sounds like fun. I'll do that."

I hugged her, and she smiled brightly at me. "Bye Bella!"

"Bye, Rosie."

I got in my car and drove to Forks High. I sat in the parking lot staring at the school. The bell rang, and people started to flood out of the doors. I looked at my watch which said it was Saturday. I realized that they were the kids who were assigned detention.

Alice, of all people, walked out of the building and headed started to walk home. I started to drive slowly, following her. She looked over her shoulder and stopped when she saw the car following her. I unrolled the window and unlocked the door.

"Get in the car. I'm taking you to get some food."

Her eyes widened as she looked at me. "Bella?"

I rolled my eyes. "You coming?"

She stood there waiting for me a while and I started to speed up a little. She ran over and threw open the passenger side door.

"Bella, I'm so sorry." She said, sitting down.

I grinned at her. "Let's stow the heavy stuff until _after_ we eat."

I put the car into gear, and drove towards the diner.

**Alice's Point of View**

I sat down on the worn vinyl stool, and she sat down beside me. A waitress with hair teased beyond an inch of its life flounced over. "What can I get for ya?"

"A vanilla shake, and an order of French fries."

"And for you?" The waitress, who's nametag labeled her Shawnee, asked Bella.

"A strawberry shake."

The waitress left, and I turned to the girl sitting beside me. I'd always known she was pretty, but right now she just looked tired, and sad.

"I really miss you, you know."

She smiled at me and nodded, her long hair falling across one shoulder. She tossed it back with a quick shake of her head, and looked at me. "I really miss you too. But that doesn't change anything. We really need to talk about a lot of things."

I nodded at Bella, and she halfheartedly smiled at me. "Bella, I'm sorry. I was just… I saw all these happy couples around me, and I was jealous. And I took my anger out on you when you needed a friend more than ever. Rosalie and I don't really talk too much anymore because she disapproves so much of the way I treated you. I lost you, Rose, Jasper, Emmett, I just started to be friends with Edward again but then he blew off Ben at the restaurant and all I could think of was were all these ridiculous reasons he was being dishonest, like cheating or something, but then I realized that I have been such a horrible person over the past year. I treated my friends horribly, I cheated on my boyfriend, all sorts of mistakes. I don't want to be that person anymore. So now I go to these group counseling sessions at the school on Saturdays. I'm really trying and I want nothing more than to be friends with you all again someday. If you'll have me."

Shawnee came back with the milkshakes and fries.

"Anything I can get you girls?"

We both shook our heads and started to eat.

"What have you been up to in Texas?"

She laughed, and started to tell me about her new life. I just hoped that one day, she could combine it with her old one.

**A/N I love all of youuuuuu. Thank you for the fabulous reviews. I loved seeing who you guys thought it was at the door. A lot of you said Jasper, but sorry. He will be coming back soon. Reviewers get a preview of Jasper's counseling session that will be featured next chapter. **

**I need a beta. If you're interested, in a PM or review tell me if you're interested, and send me a link to anything else that you've beta'd. And yes, I will read anything you've posted a written (:**


	17. Hey, Moon

**A/N So… I wrote this chapter when I was in McCall, lost it. Wrote it again, lost it again. Wrote it, lost the computer. See why I gave up after a point? And be glad I even wrote this, I smashed a bunch of my fingers the other day and typing hurts, what with half of one of my index fingers peeling back. Thanks for the reviews, lovlies. **

**Jasper's Point of View**

I was so bored. The past weeks I'd been here, every day was trust exercises and group counseling. It helped to an extent, but it also made things feel extremely lonely. I'd spent sometime with the group of people Siobhan had introduced to be on my first day, but not very much. Emmett was so happy waiting to the child he'd started to call Emmaline. I missed Bella, and I wished that I could see her.

I was killing time outside of the individual counselor's offices waiting for my therapist to finish with the session she was in.

Tony… Tanya… Tony came through the door and sat next to me. "Sup man?"

"Hey… Tony… How's Carmen?"

"She's good, man. She's damn good."

"Okay…" I looked down at my watch. Why did I always insist on showing up to these things early?

Tony coughed and ran a hand through his red hair. When he spoke again, his voice was decidedly more feminine. "How do you do it?"

I looked over at him. "Excuse me?"

He scratched his nose and looked at me. "Well, no matter what do you, you seem just… masculine. You don't use slang as much as most guys, you're not… buff, and you're pretty frickin' sensitive, but there's nothing about you that makes you seem effeminate or would make anyone question your gender. I wish I could do that."

I slumped down in my seat a little. "So, wait. You want me to teach you… how to be more realistically guy-like?"

He blushed and frowned. "Well, when you put it like that it sounds iffy, but yes. I guess I am."

Angela opened her door and Siobhan walked out. Siobhan hugged me quickly before breezing out of the door.

"Come on in, Jasper."

I looked down at Tony who was folding in on himself in the chair. "Sure. I'll do it. Come to Siobhan and my room after your appointment."

I walked into Dr. Weber's office. She gestured to the overstuffed armchair in the corner beside the window. I sat, and she settled into another opposite it.

"So, Jasper. How have you been?"

"Well, Dr. Weber. I've missed my family, and I've been unable to sleep since days before I left Forks, I've been nothing but anxious since I can remember, my head has been throbbing for days, and I the last time I saw my girlfriend I made her cry. How've _you_ been?"

She wrote something down on her notepad. "Jasper, I've told you to call me Angela. Don't think of me as a therapist, think of me as an acquaintance or a friend. Your sleeplessness, anxiety, headaches, and mood swings are because you're detoxifying. They're just symptoms of withdrawal."

She leaned forward and looked at me.

"Jasper, what would _you_ say caused you to turn to abusing the painkillers?"

"There was nothing about my life except my girlfriend that was going right, and she was dealing with her own problems at the time. So I just needed to get rid of my pain."

She sat up and looked at me. "And how did that work for you, Jasper?"

I slumped down in my seat. "The pain was still there. It _is_ still there. It's just more manageable now that I have people trying to help me. I just… regret taking all the others down with me."

"Taking the others down with you? What do you mean by that?"

I rubbed my neck. "My mom is getting divorced, my ex-best friends all hate each other now, and my girlfriend moved from Washington to go live with my parents in Texas."

Angela furrowed her brow lightly. "Why do you always call your girlfriend as such? Why won't you say her name?"

I looked over at her. "Because she's the only thing I can have to myself now."

She raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Jasper?"

"Here, I have a roommate, our rooms have video surveillance, and there are people here who know everything about me. But in here," I tapped my forehead, "I have Bella."

She leaned forward slightly in her chair. "Her name is Bella? What's her last name?"

I sighed, having accidentally said her name, there was no way to go back, but what could it hurt to play along with what she was asking of me. "Swan. Her name is Bella Swan."

"Bella means beautiful in Italian. A swan represents different things to different cultures. In general it represents compassion, freedom and beauty. Sound about right?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, pretty much."

She smiled at me. "Next session, I want you to try to tell me a little bit about her. That's all for today, Jasper, but I'll see you in a few days. You're doing great with your withdrawal and coping with dealing with your feelings in a better way."

I left and headed for the room. Tony was sitting outside against the door. I opened the door and he followed me in.

"So…" he was using the 'Tanya' voice again. "Where are we going to start on this?"

"Uhm, how about we start with the basics? Walking and talking?"

He nodded and I stood. "Okay, so most guys walk in two lines. Left foot, and right foot, with the lines about six inches apart. Keep your upper body relatively still, with your knees bents a little bit. Don't pick up your feet up too much, either. Try that."

He stood and walked from one end of the room to the other.

"Well, even some guys do, most guys don't walk with a pronounced swagger. We have a sway to our hips, but it's nowhere near as obvious as a females. Watch."

I got up and walked across the room and back. I sat down and Tony tried. "Better. With a little practice you could get pretty good at that. Okay… talking. Girls talk from their heads, guys usually talk from their chests. Don't focus on dropping your voice down two octaves, only lower it a little. Even after puberty some guys don't end up with very deep voices. Listen to my voice. Just focus on the tone. It's not all that low. Some guys have high voices. Take Christofer Drew for instance. His voice is high pitched, but you can tell than he's a guy. Try."

He cleared his throat. "How's that?"

I smiled. "Try a little bit deeper."

"Like this?"

I nodded. "Perfect. And by the way, you don't have to wear your clothes so baggy that you can't walk. Unless Carmen has specifically said she likes that, I wouldn't do it."

He nodded. "Alright. I'll see you later."

I nodded back at him. "Bye."

He left and Siobhan walked in. "Hey. Visiting hours start in a few minutes. Do you want to meet my boyfriend and sister?"

I nodded. "Sure. Let me brush my teeth and then I'll go down into the cafeteria. See you guys down there."

I brushed my teeth and hair and headed down. Siobhan was sitting at a table with Liam and Maggie. I went over to sit with them. Siobhan pointed at me. "Guys, this is Jasper."

Liam did the head nod thing, and Maggie waved. "Hi."

Maggie and Siobhan started talking about hair color and shoes. It was only when I heard them start talking about this place that caught my attention.

Maggie rolled her eyes at Siobhan. "So what? It's like, the hospices: a relaxing weekend getaway where you're a _cut_ above all the rest."

Liam nudged Maggie's shoulder. "Sorry Jasper. Our sense of humor is probably a little bit different than yours."

I looked at Siobhan. "That didn't offend you at all? What she said?"

Siobhan shook her head. "Hardly. I'm pretty much used to them saying jokes like that by now. I can laugh at myself."

Maggie smiled. "Did you hear about that new pizza? It cuts itself!"

Siobhan grinned. "I wish my grass was emo so it would cut itself."

Liam shook his head. "How many emo kids does it take to make a microwave burrito?"

Siobhan glared at him. "I'm not emo. I just used to be a cutter."

He grinned, something that looked off on his face. "You dyed your hair black, and you're being all… mopey. Emo… But anyway… It takes four. One to write about it on LiveJournal, One to post a MySpace bulletin, One to take a picture of himself in the mirror with the burrito, and One to microwave the burrito."

I laughed, my head turning to the right. Someone walking in through the doorway caught my eye.

"Siobhan…"

She looked at me. "Yeah?"

"Look-the doorway."

She turned and stood. "Bella! Hi!" Siobhan wrapped her arms around Bella's waist. Bella smiled and hugged her back.

"Hi!"

I stood and walked over to Bella. She let go of Siobhan and jumped up, wrapping her arms around my neck. I wrapped my arms around her waist and buried my face in her neck.

"Hey, baby. I'm so happy to see you."

She pulled back slightly and gave me a quick peck on the lips before leaning back against me. "I was in town to help Edward out with some things, see my dad, maybe some old friends, and then I found out that visiting day was this week, so I had to see you."

I sat down, not letting her get too far away from me. I pulled her down into my lap, and rubbed her back. "You saw Edward?"

She hesitated for a moment before biting the inside of her cheek. "Uhm, yeah."

I nodded, my hand freezing. "Good. How's he been?"

She furrowed her eyebrow. "Uhm, good? You're not upset?"

I shook my head, and continued rubbing her back. "No, Bella. Because I know how much it hurt you not being able to talk to them."

She frowned. "Uh, yeah, okay… I also talked to Alice and Rose…"

I pulled her closer. "Bella, I really don't care. It's what you needed to do. I understand that. I really do."

She smiled and hugged me again. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. I was afraid you'd be mad."

"Bella, how could I get mad at you for wanting everyone to be happy again?"

Suddenly, Bella wasn't in my arms anymore.

"!"

She laughed. "Hey, Emmett. How's it going?"

"Good! Rose told me that she saw you, and now I got my turn!"

He put her back in my lap and sat next to me. The three of us talked until visiting hours were over. After Bella left, I was too happy to do much of anything, so I headed back to the room and laid down. I didn't think I would be able to sleep, but for once, I easily fell into the darkness.

**A/N Some of you have asked why you didn't get your preview last chapter. When I lost this chapter, I lost the preview, as well. I'm sorry. Review this time, you get a preview again. **

**Review for a Preview? Think we can get to 170 reviews? Thanks lovies!**


	18. Don't Go Down

**A/N I'm sorry guys. Real life beat me in the face with a pointed stick. And so do the sixth graders I'm teaching to play the violin. Eep.**

**Ben's point of View**

Bella smiled and squeezed my hand before getting up and walking towards her rental. I knocked on the door, halfway expecting Edward not to answer.

"Jesus Bella, I know you have a key… I distinctly remember putting it on your ring last year…" his voice trailed off when he saw who was at the door.

"Where's Bella?" he asked, short and staccato.

"She left. I need to talk to you."

He rolled his eyes. "No. I know how it goes. I open door, I let you in, you apologize and blame yourself, things are fine for about .9 seconds, you see my best friend or mom or god knows what, and then you throw a fit and leave. I'd rather not. Bella came here to help me sort out a bunch of things, and of have to twist that around. We've spent more of our relationship fighting or not talking than we actually have spent time together. And that's not right to me. Ben, you need to trust me. But you don't. So I guess I'll see you around."

He went to close the door, but I stuck my foot in the jamb. "Edward… when I was younger-"

He cut me off. "Let me guess… your dad cheated on your mom, or ran off. Both, mayhaps? You need to realize that _I'm not your dad_. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, but you seem completely determined to sabotage this relationship before it's even started. I love you, I do. But you seem to have serious commitment issues."

"Damn right I have commitment issues. My mom wasted 25 years of her life with someone who she knew would crush her, but she didn't care. I don't want to be that person, Edward. I don't want to wake up some day 15 years from now and realize that my life is a lie. Since my dad left, the dynamics of all of my relationships have changed. But you are the only person I really want to repair that with. Just… help me, Edward? You are the only person I know who could convince me that everyone out there isn't horrible."

He opened the door and stepped back so I could walk in. I stepped in, and followed him to the kitchen. He pulled a tall glass from the cabinet, offering me one. I shook my head, and he shrugged, putting it back away. He filled the glass with water from the tap, taking a long drink, his adam's apple bobbing. He set the glass on the counter before leaning against it and looking at me.

"Why didn't you tell me about your dad?"

"I'm sorry. I really wish I'd been able to tell you, and I'm sorry that I didn't."

He shook his head. "I'm sorrier. I really am. If you'd felt like you could trust me… god, I'm such a screw up."

"No, you're not. I've always had a hard time trusting people, and you weren't an exception. But I hope that things will change now. We've talked about this, and I'm going to try harder. If there's ever been anyone I need to let in, it's you. You're the only person in the past 18 years that's come anywhere close to making me feel comfortable. Really."

He pushed off of the counter and strode towards me. He placed a hand on my neck, his thumb just under my left ear. He leaned down slightly and pressed his lips to mine. He tasted like cigarettes and spearmint.

He pressed his forehead to mine. "I miss you when you're gone."

I wrapped my arms around his waist and hugged him to me. He suddenly smiled. "I have something to show you." He grabbed my wrist and pulled me up the stairs after him.

He opened his French door to the balcony and grabbed a hold of the latticework, pulling himself up to the widow's walk. "When they renovated the house, they closed off the entrance to get up here. I don't think my parents even know how to get up here."

He reached an arm down, helping me up. I stood, brushing dirt off of my pants. I could see in all directions, green. The trees stretched out in front of me and the gray sky above me blending in seamlessly. I heard the harsh snap of a lighter, then the smell of cigarette smoke came wafting from behind me. I turned to look at him, noticing the hundreds of cigarette butts on the ground. "Spend a lot of time out here?"

He blew the smoke from the corner of his mouth away from me and nodded. "They act like being a teenager will be great, you know? But life pretty much sucked until this past year. I mean, I had friends, but they had friends, and they had parties. But I'm so _awkward._ So I never really did much besides sit up here and read, or think, or write, or draw. No one's been up here with me besides Jasper."

He nudged the piles of filters with his boot. "Most of these are probably his. I didn't really start to smoke until maybe 6 months before he left."

I sat next to him and put my head on his shoulder.

"He sounds important to you."

He looked down at his cigarette and tapped the ash off before shaking his hair out of his eyes and looking at me. "That's why I want you to meet him," he said quietly.

I could feel my eyes widen, and he smiled slightly at me. "Jasper was my best friend for years, and you are now one of the most important people to me. I want you two to meet, I think you'd like him."

I settled into his chest and he took another drag from his cigarette. "Tell me about him."

He put one of his hands on my neck and massaged. "Well, he's tall. Blonde. You know that actor… Matthew Gray Gubler? The one who plays Reid on Criminal Minds? He looks a bit like him. He's smart. Really smart. You know the movie Finding Forrester? He's like Jamal, except he usually keeps it inside. He's hilarious… but you know something?"

I looked up at him, and he pressed his lips to my temple. "It doesn't matter, because I love you more than I ever thought I loved him."

I took the cigarette from his fingers and put it out, turning around to sit on his legs. I put a hand on his neck, my thumb right under his ear. "I love you too."

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he slipped it out. "Hello?... Wait, who? Brandon?... Are you positive?... Oh, God."

His phone slipped from his hands.

"Alice."

**Alice's Point of View**

***few days previously***

"James! How could you do that? Do you realize how embarrassing that was?" I was in my room. Instead of going home after ruining my night like he should have, James had gotten into the house and was there when I got home. My dad and stepmother were on a cruise somewhere, so I had no clue how he'd gotten in.

"You honestly care? It's not like it was your friend Edward or whatever. You don't know him."

"James, if he's one of my friend's boyfriends, then yes, I care."

James rolled his eyes and sat down on my bed. "Gay fag is gay. I doubt he cares."

I slipped off my shoes and threw one of my heels at him. "Shut up! Okay, Edward is important to me, and then by default so is Ben. I can guarantee that they _do_ care about your ignorance and prejudice. Now leave them alone, or leave my house."

He rolled his eyes again, grabbed a handful of Godiva from bedside table, unwrapping it and putting a couple pieces in his mouth. "Hey! Do you know how expensive that is?"

He rolled his eyes. "Do I care? Not like you bought it. It was your daddy who bought it for his darling little wife whose only 8 years older than you. And then you filched it from her purse. Shut up and do something useful."

I threw the other shoe at him, which he easily caught and threw back. I ducked, and it hit the wall behind my head, the heel stuck in the plaster in the wall. He stood up and stalked over to me. "Leave those fags alone."

I glared at him. "Don't call them that!"

He put his forearm across my chest and pushed me into the wall. "You do what I tell you to. You understand me?"

I pushed against his arm. "You're not in charge of me! How dare you say things about my friends? What about Laurent your Jamaican friend with the 'French' accent? Or Victoria, your little red headed-"

He slapped me. "Don't you say a word about her. Ever. You hear me? What makes you think you can keep acting out to me? Stop it, or you are going to get hurt."

I slipped from under his arm and headed for the door.

"Where do you think you're going? I need to talk to you."

I opened the door, stopping to slam it behind me before running to hide somewhere.

"_I _said _I need to talk to you!"_


	19. Don't Forget

**A/N After being completely showed up by the person I beta for, I decided to write a longer chapter than usual. **

**Alice's Point of View**

After slamming the door behind me, I ran downstairs, mentally running through a list of places I could hide. Worst-case scenario, James comes down and finds me. Best case, he gives up. I ran for the basement, stopping to grab my phone.

I jumped most of the stairs heading down there, and quickly scanned the area for places to go. The first places to catch my eye all seemed too obvious. Then I remembered the door under the stairs than didn't have an obvious handle. I could hear James' slow footsteps plodding down the stairs heading from the third floor to the second.

I quickly pulled the door open using my nails and shifted all of the boxes of games and puzzles out of the way. Using the inside handle, I closed the door softly, before crawling into the back and using my phone for light, stacked the boxes up around me. I could hear him step down onto the second floor.

I flipped my phone back open and attempted to dial 911. I listened for a long moment but didn't hear it start to ring. I hung up, then tried again. The phone beeped twice, and the screen lit up again. I glanced down at the screen, and quietly groaned at what I saw.

_No Service-Please Wait While We Find Your Network_

I flipped the phone shut before opening it again and turning it off. Last thing I needed was for it to decide to work when James gets down here. I could still hear his footsteps, only now they were getting closer. I shrunk down even further, curling into fetal position. I heard a low scraping sound and the door popped open. "Oh, Alice. You in here, baby girl?"

I softly shook my head and sunk down in on myself even further. His shadow disappeared from the door and I heard him walk off. I slipped out, and headed for the door that opened out to the backyard. I tried to knob, only to feel that the door was locked, and I didn't have the key. I looked up the stairs going to the first floor and saw that the door was closed. He'd probably locked that, too. I could hear his heavy boots on the carpet.

"Alice, Alice, Alice. I know you're down here somewhere."

I could finally see his shadow, getting larger as he got closer. I ran to my father's office, the room next to my right and slipped under the desk, rolling the chair back in close to me. My father's desk was one built for hiding things, and as such, was built into the wall, and one half of the desk was completely hollow. I opened the panel to that side and crawled in, slipping the panel back into place. I heard the door creak open and pressed myself against the wall opposite the panel.

The door softly clicked shut and I could hear him rummaging through my dad's shelves. "Well, let's see what Alice's darling daddy has while we wait for her to show up."

I could hear various things fall from the shelf, and the sound of glass breaking. And then there I could hear the chair pulling away from the desk. The start up noise on my dad's computer started, and James sat down heavily. A few minutes later I could hear the strange noises distinctive to a game of Pac*Man.

_Wakka Wakka Wakka._

Really? I rolled my eyes and settled down to kill some time. A couple of hours later, I was counting the chimes of the clock, James pushed his chair back from the desk. An hour or so after _that_, I could hear his loud snores fill the room. I carefully pushed out the panel and peeked at James. He was still lying back in the chair when I slipped out. I grabbed the key that was on top of the desk and crawled out. I got over near the couch before my legs became completely numb. Using my arms, I pulled myself behind the couch, I didn't want to take any chances of him waking up and coming out to find me.

I slowly and painfully began to stretch out my legs and back. Once I could bend forward and touch my toes I stood up, slowly. I could still hear his snores, so I ran over to the door, slipping the key into it and going upstairs. I grabbed my car key from the table and ran outside. I drove my car to a parking lot, before continuing on foot to the only place I could think of: my mom's house.


	20. But A Dream

**I honestly don't feel like writing this story. I feel like I'm done with the way I've portrayed these characters, and I have plans for another story. But I will finish this.**

**And sorry for the crazy delay… I've had this typed since Thanksgiving, I just had so much going on. **

Alice's Point of View

I jumped in my car and drove to my mom's house. I hadn't been there since well before Emmett left, and I felt guilty. My mom and I had never had a very good relationship, hence why I chose to live with my dad when the divorce happened. Emmett had been more than happy staying with her, and she had never fully forgiven me for picking my dad over her.

I ran my hand down the side of the door and found the key usually hanging there gone. I hurried around to the side of the house, afraid that every car driving past was James. I didn't think I had ever told him about where my mom lived, and as much as I needed to remember, I couldn't.

I wrenched the window up and it creaked loudly before slamming open. I fell inside and as gravity forced it shut behind me. A figure shot up in the bed and began to scream.

"Rose? Rose! It's me, Alice!"

A light flipped on, and Rose placed one hand to her throat and the other to her stomach.

"What the hell are you thinking? God... What if I'd had Em's baseball bat? Jesus... Why are you even here? It's after 10."

I sat on the floor with my back against the side of the bed. Rosalie lay back down on the bed behind me and reached an arm down to play with my hair. I didn't realize I was crying until I felt the tears hit the hands clasped in my lap.

"Oh, Alice, what's wrong?"

I blinked rapidly and wiped my face. "It's James... He just... Gets so angry..."

I felt rather than saw Rose sit up. "Does he hit you?"

I nodded, and the tears started to fall again. "But it's usually my fault. I push him harder than he needs to be, and he's so busy, with Laurent, and Victoria, and Royce and-"

Rosalie made a noise deep in her throat. "Royce...? King?"

I nodded quickly, wiping at my face again. "Yeah. You know him?"

She shook her head slowly. "I don't know him, per se, but I've met him a few times..."

I turned around to look up at her on the bed. Once I decided that wasn't enough, I sat up next to her. "Rosalie Lillian, promise me that you'll stay far, far away from him. He was in a minor correctional facility until a couple years ago because he and a few of his friends attacked and raped a girl in Seattle. I don't want anything to happen to you or the baby. Promise me, Rose."

She reached over and grasped my hands. "Only if you promise you'll stay here tonight and call Charlie in the morning."

I nodded, and hugged her. It had been too long since I'd seen her, and even longer since I'd seen her under pleasant circumstances. I heard a low clapping sound coming from the doorway. Rosalie and I both turned around, and James was standing in the doorway.

"Bravo, bravo. That was Beautiful. The two friends finally reunited. How sweet. Such a shame I'll have to break up the party."

Rosalie shook her head. "Get out. She's not going with you. How did you even get-"

"Stuff it, Blondie." he snarled. "I've had the key to this lovely little place for weeks. And she is going to cone with me, and she'll do it now. Alice, baby? Get over here, before I get angry. We wouldn't want that, would we?"

He twisted his neck to the side, the bones cracking loudly. I stood to go with him, to avoid the conflict. I could take a few more hits and then get away again. Rose grabbed my arm and pulled me back down. James glared at her and pulled a yellow utility knife from his pocket, sliding it open. "Let her go, Blondie. She picked me."

Rose pushed me down onto the bed again when I tried to rise. "Rose, stop. He has a knife. A knife. You can't do anything about it. I'm sorry. "

She rolled her eyes. "Alice, I'm not afraid of him. Seriously, do you honestly think he's going to stab me? He's only got that to scare you."

James smiled, and for the first time I realized how unattractive he was. "Wrong choice."

He took a step toward her, the knife catching some of the moonlight coming in from the uncovered window. She flinched, and he smiled. "Oh, but sweetie, I thought you weren't scared."

He lunged toward her and jabbed the knife into her chest, before pulling back again. She collapsed to the bed, one hand over her stomach, the other to her chest. Just then, footsteps started to come up the stairs.

The bedroom door slowly pushed open, and a beam of bring light shot across the room. "Sir, put the knife down, and step away from the women."

James took another slow step in my direction, looking quickly between Rose and I.

"Sir, put-the-knife-down." he lunged for me, and covered himself with me, holding the blade to my throat.

" Leave. Leave, or Alice dies."

The police officer shifted, looking for an angle. "Sir, please. No one has to get hurt here. Just step away, put down your weapon, and place your arms where I can see them."

James appeared to think about it. The officer slowly gestured to the left with the gun, and I realized he wanted me to move. I weighed my options, and twisted to the side. James lifted his arm up to jab at me, but the gun went off. My ears rang, but I could still see. James fell, and the flashlight clicked off. The police officer looked at me. "Alice, what happened to Rose?"

He had to repeat himself 4 times before my hearing returned. Now that I could see his face and hear his voice without the panic I realized who he was. "Charlie, he stabbed her!"

Charlie reached for his walkie-talkie. "I'm gonna need paramedics to 657 N. Hazelnut." he reached a hand Down and pressed it to her pulse point. "Pulse is strong. And.. Uh... "He looked at James "We're gonna need a bag, too."

He looked at me and shook his head slightly. "Alice, he was as much of a fool with his knife as he was with his life. Doesn't appear that he did anything more than scratch her, and she looks like she just fainted. However due to her... Condition... We should probably take her into the hospital anyway to make sure she's all right. I'm just happy I got here before anything worse happened. One of the neighbors saw someone come around to the side window and heard a scream, then a loud banging noise. You'll need to get checked out, then we'll need to call your mom so you can come down to the station and fill out a report."

He hugged me lightly. "I'm sorry about the whole mess with Bella, and I get that you two aren't real good friends anymore... But I'm glad you're alright, and I know Rose will be."

Someone pushed my door farther open, and Sam Uley walked in, followed by Seth Clearwater. They were carrying a collapsible gurney, which they set on the bed next to Rose. Another two men whose names I didn't know came in at that point. Charlie turned me toward the wall and stepped in front of me. "Now, while it's still fresh, tell me what happened, starting from when you came over here."

I struggled to hear what he was saying as all of a sudden it was harder as my ears began to ring again. The world began to twist and dip, and then I fell.

Edward's Point of View

I turned the car into the lot of the regional hospital and Ben turned his head to look at me. "And Alice's mom didn't tell you what happened?"

I shook my head. "She only told me that Alice and Rose were in the hospital and had been for a day."

I pulled into a space and Ben had his seatbelt off and was out of the car before I even pulled the key from the ignition. I climbed from the car, checking to make sure I had my phone and wallet. He looked at me over the roof of the car. "Edward... I have to admit... I'm scared."

I nodded. "Me too. But I know Doreen, and from the way her voice sounded on the phone, whatever happened was bad, but the girls are okay. She wasn't hysterical, and if her daughter and honorary daughter in law were in comas or life support, she wouldn't say something. Whatever happened to land them in the hospital most definitely wasn't sunshine and kittens, but I think they'll be okay."

I walked around the car and grabbed his hand. "Now c'mon."

As we walked toward the door, he turned his head toward me. "But Alice is so... Small. And Rose is pregnant. It's scary."

As we neared the automatic doors, I dropped his hand, which he then shoved into his pocket. We hunted down the waiting room and found Doreen sitting there, a cup of stale coffee in one hand and a balled up tissue in the other.

When she saw us she stood, and I wrapped my arms around her. "Oh Doreen. What happened?"

She wiped her nose with the tissue and sat back down, and Ben and I joined her.

"I was at Beth's house helping her prepare meals for when she has her surgery next week when Mrs. Betts from across the street called and said she saw someone trying to break into the house and that she'd called the cops. So I got in the car and headed home, but when I got there I saw them wheeling out a bloody Rose and Chief Swan was carrying Alice. It took forever, but I found out that Alice's boyfriend had attacked the girls, and Charlie had had to shoot him."

Ben spoke up. "James? God, another reason I should kill that guy."

Doreen threw him a look. "Lucky for you that Charlie already did."

I put my hand on top of hers. "Are the girls alright?"

She nodded. "Even through that bastard stabbed Rose it was more like a scratch than anything. And nothing real bad happened to Alice. They just want to check her stress levels and such. But Alice isn't really talking, and Rose has been asleep every time let me in to talk to her, and I'd hate to wake the poor dear up."

I sent a quick text to my mom and Ben's telling them where we were, and then settled down. None of us would be leaving until we'd seen the girls.


End file.
